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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Basil Pesto

After taking a break from our mini backyard garden, I decided to give it another try. This time, I bought basil and actually took them out of their plastic containers, making sure to plant them with enough space for each one to grow. 


The basil has been growing quite well and I realized that after all that growing, I might need to actually use up some of the leaves before they get overgrown.


That's when I remembered Nathan made pesto at school using basil. So I asked Nathan to help me use up some of the basil. According to Nathan, we needed: fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, cheese. Then you put it in a food processor and whiz it all together until it becomes a sauce.


 Having no prior experience with pesto (I haven't even tasted the stuff up to this point), I had to trust him. I also looked up a recipe just to figure out proportions.


Turns out, making pesto is quick and easy. Definitely a good quick dinner option if I needed one.



BASIL PESTO (adapted from Allrecipes)

Ingredients
1/4 cup almonds
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a dry frying pan, lightly toast almonds over medium heat, stirring frequently. Watch carefully so they don't burn.
2. In a food processor, combine toasted almonds, garlic, basil, cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper. Process until a coarse purée is formed. 

Notes
The original recipe calls for 3 cloves of garlic. Nathan did a taste test and suggested we add one more.

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