fresh basil pesto

Last week while relaxing on the beach marzipanmom commented she needed to start making pesto because her garden was apparently producing tons of basil.....I have just one plant growning on my deck, but I certainly had enough to make a batch too. So the treatgirl googled "how to make fresh pesto" and up popped the perfect little recipe!! Look how great it turned out....I happened to have all the ingredients....and it took about five minutes!! If you have a bunch of basil and would like to try it.....follow along....and at the end you'll see what I made for dinner last night :)




...here is the ingredient list:
2 cups fresh basil
1/2 cup grated Parmesean or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method
1. Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts...which I did! ....and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again unil blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Makes 1 cup.



For dinner last night I made this wonderful pasta dish....I didn't have a recipe....I kinda just threw it together.....it's loosely based on one of my favorite things at a restarant in my town....Penne Medditerrean.....here is what I did:

Boiled water and cooked 1lb. of penne.....while that was going on, I sauted 4 chicken breasts in olive oil....sliced into 1 inch pieces....then I added the pesto, sundried tomatoes and sliced olives. When the pasta was done, I drained it and returned it to the pot.....then mixed in everything from the skillet. Delicious!!!