I love basil. Pesto is made from basil and often tops Italian-style dishes at restaurants. You can buy it at the store, but I’ve found it is expensive and usually very oily. I’ve made it a few times and wanted to share the recipe! Mine was made using my Vitamix Blender,
but you can use any type of blender or food processor.
but you can use any type of blender or food processor.
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 medium cloves of garlic, peeled
1/8 cup lemon juice
1 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
pinch of Italian seasoning
salt & pepper
I rinsed the basil and dried it as well as I could.
Here is a picture of the ingredients. I keep all of them in the pantry most of the time. It is nice that this recipe doesn’t require a special trip to the grocery store!
Then I tore off the leaves and packed them into the blender. You will need lots of leaves.
Add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed and then blend or process until it is relatively smooth. Here is a close-up:
I separated the pesto into several glass containers for freezing. That way I can just pull out a little as I need it. I am planning to use it for pasta dishes but also as a topping with tomatoes and cheese for baked chicken.
Yum.
Do you have any recommendations for using pesto?
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Oooh! Your recipe is a little different than the one I was given. This will be the first year we have made pesto. Perhaps I will try both recipes!!!
ReplyDeleteI liked this recipe b/c I had all the ingredients in my pantry. I often forget to bring my list before heading to the store...so it is best for me to make recipes with stuff I have already! Or I decide I just have to make something right away and it's great when all the ingredients are at my house.
DeleteWow, you don't use pine nuts? I never thought about almonds! I'll have to give this a try! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteNo, I didn't have any! And they're expensive. Almonds worked just fine!
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