Homemade Pesto Sauce

There are two ways to make this recipe: the labor intensive way, and the lazy way. I'm usually the laziest of cooks, but for some reason today I was inspired to make some pesto the old fashioned way: by chop, chop chopping and then chopping some more. Under normal circumstances I would just throw all the ingredients into a food processor and then viola, PESTO!

Both methods are extremely straightforward and call for the exact same ingredients. I think you would all agree that there is nothing more satisfying than a light meal of pesto pasta. For alterations to this recipe, you can add grilled shrimp or chicken. If by any chance you have some leftovers, you can make a panini sandwich with mozarella cheese, pesto and tomatoes. Alternatively, you can add a dollop of pesto to a vegetable soup such as minestrone for a burst of flavor.




Ingredients:



Large bunch of basil
Handful of pine nuts
3 cloves garlic
4 teaspoons of olive oil (you may need more if you want more of a "watery" consistency)
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (its really important to have good quality parmesan for this recipe)
Salt, to taste


If you aren't using a food processor, the key to this recipe is a good-quality sharp knife.


Sit down at a kitchen table with a large chopping board, and begin chopping the basil. I divided them into 4 bunches to make it easier. You want the basil to be chopped into extremely small pieces, so that it begins to look like a paste. Next, add the pinenuts to the basil and chop them in so that the 2 ingredients blend together and the whole mixture has a uniform consistency. Add the garlic, and do the same (I told you this is a bit labor intensive)... Finally, add the grated parmesan, chop a little more.


Transfer the paste into a bowl, add the olive oil and salt to taste (I barely add any salt because the parmesan makes the mixture salty enough for me),


Enjoy!!! It was worth it wasn't it? :)


Note to the lazy cook: Just add all the above ingredients into a food processor; the taste will be more or less the same, but the texture won't be as authentic...


Serves 4