Pesto Recipe

Pesto Recipe

2 cups loosely packed basil leaves

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/3 cup pine nuts (found in the baking section or in produce with salad toppings)

2 cloves garlic

1/2 olive oil

salt and pepper

 

1. Combine basil, cheese, pine nuts and peeled/crushed garlic in a food processor and process into a rough paste.

2. With the machine running, slowly add olive oil to desired consistancy. It should be a thick paste.

3. Season with salt and pepper.

 

Can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for up to 3 months (but I've frozen for much longer in the deep freeze). 

 

Our family LOVES pesto! It can be pretty expensive though. So I made sure to plant lots of basil in the garden this year. I started them in newspaper starters, here. They germinated well and flourished in the garden. Basil loves hot weather, so we were very lucky!

 

I had 4 plants that resembled bushes!



I used scissors to clip the leaves off all 4 plants. My colander runneth over!

I prepare the recipe and freeze them in baggies, about 1/2 cup per bag (that's how much our family consumes in one meal, but you can bag as much or as little as you want!). I pull a bag out the day before I want to use it and homemade pesto is what's for dinner!

 

I have lots of freezer recipes and tips here.



Alfredo Sauce

I love Olive Garden. The alfredo recipe from my Joy of Cooking cookbook is awesome! I add a few things for my favorite flavors.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated parmesan (4 oz)
salt, pepper and fresh ground nutmeg to taste

1. Melt butter and cracked garlic in sauce pan over medium heat. Smack garlic cloves so their cracked open, releasing their flavor. You want to be able to fish them out when the sauce is done.
2. Add cream and cheese and stir until melted. Turn heat to low. Add seasoning to your taste.

Toss with 1 pound of fettucine, use whole wheat if you can! It still tastes yummy. Maybe all the cheese and cream counts out the healthy part, but oh well! It's a treat!

I also love Pizza Hut's alfredo pasta. Diced chicken breast and season with salt and pepper. Cook in a skillet with olive oil and toss with short pasta and alfredo sauce. Top with mozzarella and a little parmesan and bake until melted.