Basil Pesto

As promised from yesterday, I have made basil pesto.  I made three times the size of the pesto that you buy at the store, for a fraction of the price! I have always wanted to take the time to make pesto, and quite frankly, I am shocked that I have waited this long to make it! Freshly made pesto is delicious.  Don't get me wrong, the store bought kind has always been a staple for us, but now, after making this, I am not sure if I will ever buy store bought again!  Also, when I was buying the walnuts, the man selling all of the nuts at the farmer's market told me that you can actually use cashews instead of walnuts.  He said that it makes a wonderful pesto..... if you want, take his word and try cashews... if not, take my word when I say that the walnuts worked great! Maybe I will try cashews next time?!

Ingredients:
3 cups fresh basil leaves
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon lemon juice (I squeezed 1/4 of a lemon)
1/4 cup walnuts (sorry pine nuts... you are too pricy!)
1/2 grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

Here are all of the ingredients needed! Super simple... and if you make your own, it will save you a ton of money in the long run!

 1. Add the basil, lemon juice, walnuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper to a food processor.  Mix well.  You may have to open it and scrape the sides down a few times, but it will eventually mix all together.

2. With the food processor running, add the olive oil to the basil mixture.

This is what is will look like when it is finished!

I stored the pesto in a mason jar.  You can keep this in the refrigerator for a while.  If you want to, you can freeze this as well.  If you freeze it, make sure to add a teaspoon of olive oil to the top before freezing.  When you take it out of the freezer, let it sit until it gets to room temperature.  The olive oil on the top will ensure that the pesto is not watery when thawed out.

I added a dollop of pesto to my white bean and turkey soup from my previous post! I am sure that I will make more recipes using this pesto later this week!

Until next time...

-A