Pesto Sauce

So this recipe was difficult for me to write because so much of it is to taste.  Below you will find a basic pesto recipe that I use on pasta, pizza, sandwiches, gnocchi, chicken, you name it!  I actually made this the other day and wow did my kitchen smell like summer.  This is a good amount of sauce for any of the recipes that are going to call for pesto sauce.  Also, I do not recommend buying pesto sauce; I did once and it was sweetened with sugar (yuck) and was way too salty.

Makes about 1/2 cup

1 Cup packed basil leaves

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp toasted pine nuts (cooled to room temperature)

2 Cloves garlic

Pinch salt

Pepper

– In a dry pan over medium low heat, toast the pine nuts until they are slightly darkened and you can smell them (about 10 minutes).  Set aside and let them cool.

– In a food processor or blender, mix all of the ingredients into a paste.

Notes:

1. Go very easy on the salt because the Parmesan cheese has a lot of it.
2. If the sauce is too thick for your taste thin it out a little with some more olive oil.
3. This is a very garlicky sauce, if you are sensitive to garlic just use one clove in this recipe (I love garlic; I use both cloves!).  Keep in mind though that when you add this sauce to anything hot, the garlic will mellow.
4. Feel free to use the traditional mortar and pestle; I don’t have one so the food processor it is!

 

 

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