First Batch of Pesto 9.28.09

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I made my first batch of pesto today.  I must prepare for the upcoming winter!  You know it just gets so cold in Texas....ha!  Well it does get cold...but its not like I'm homebound...I only wish for snow!  My basil has been so prolific this year that I think I'll get double, triple or quadruple the amount of pesto.  I'm going to have to give some away!  We went over to the Mc's to watch the Cowboys tonight...and thankfully they won.  I took some basil for dinner tonight, and after making pesto and taking a bunch to dinner...you can hardly tell I made a dent in my pot of basil.  If the weather stays warm enough to grow some more I'll have a freezer filled with green!  So satisfying to have your own garden...even if its just a pot...filling up your freezer with yummy food.  I should have been a farmer :)


Ina Garten's Pesto recipe...makes 4 cups
9 garlic cloves, chopped...about 3 TBS chopped
1/2 cup walnuts (chopped), or 1 cup unchopped (her recipe calls for 1/4 cup walnuts, 1/4 cup pine nuts) I have a freezer filled with walnuts halves from my grandparents in CA...they picked them and shelled them by hand...this is very special pesto...Thanks Papa & Grandma
5 packed cups basil leaves (Fresh from the garden!...always gotta wash & check 'em and make sure there aren't any little critters hiding in them...like caterpillars! Not good eats)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cup good olive oil ( i used extra virgin)
1 cup freshly grated parmesean cheese

in a cuisinart, add the garlic and walnuts...and process till well chopped,

then add the basil leaves ,salt and pepper and blend till in a paste..about a 30 seconds
slowly add the oil
add parmesean and process 1 min.

Store in fridge or freezer (that's where mine goes...often in little ice cube trays, then into baggies for the winter)
I add this to chili, speghetti sauce, pasta...almost anything!

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