I think we can all agree, there’s just nothing like Mom’s home cookin’. It just tastes better, doesn’t it? For that reason I’ve asked my Mom to submit some of her favorite recipes for me to share with y’all each Monday. Let’s get cooking in the kitchen with Mom!
With an abundance of basil in her container garden, Mom decided to make pesto this weekend. This is great tossed with pasta, spread on pizza, drizzled over grilled fish or chicken, on bruschetta, or spread on a nice chewy bread and layered with juicy ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. It also freezes well, so don’t worry if you make more than you can use.
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup walnuts
- ¼ cup pine nuts***
- 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
- 5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed (be sure to remove stems; use the leaves only)
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1 to 1 ½ cups good olive oil
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
***Pine nuts can be quite expensive. Fortunately, Winco carries them in their bulk foods and I was able to buy only what I needed for a little over $1. I was also able to buy the walnuts and Parmesan cheese from their bulk foods area.
Place the walnuts, pine nuts and garlic in bowl of food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Check the consistency; if you want to use the pesto as a sauce, you may want to add the full 1 ½ cups of olive oil. Add the Parmesan cheese and puree for a minute. Use right away or store in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.
This evening I choose to serve the pesto with fusilli noodles. For color and to cut the richness of the pesto, I added a handful of slivered sun-dried tomatoes (drained of their oil, which I also found at Winco on their olive and vegetable bar) to the pasta. It makes for a great taste combination.
Enjoy!
*This recipe is apart of Little House Living’s Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange.