Homemade Pesto

Homemade pesto is super easy and can be a great gift! Here is a link to the blog were I found the recipe I use: giverslog. She also has great label printouts for the jars. I have a lot of basil in my garden and this is a great use for it but you can always buy basil in big bunches at the store. A little goes along way for me so I keep most of what I make in the freezer. It can keep for up to a year. Here is the recipe

Ingredients
4 cups packed basil leaves
5 cloves garlic
½ cup butter
2 cups Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
A handful of pine nuts or walnuts


Put first four ingredients into the food processor in order given: mash as many basil leaves in as you can, just as long as you leave a few inches of space at the top of the bowl, then add garlic (the Trader Joe’s pre-peeled stuff is great), slice up the butter on top, and dump the cheese on top of that. Pulse and gradually add olive oil until mixture is the consistency of thick paste. Taste it at this point and see if it needs more of anything, I will warn you that tasting pesto strait up from the bowl is a bit much for me, so if you think it tastes very strong don't worry it will mellow when you put it in as an ingredient. Add nuts and continue to blend. Once done, spoon into jars and keep in fridge or freezer until ready to enjoy. Yields about two cups.

Four cups of basil

Into the food processor

The finished product - isn't it pretty!