Quick and Easy Pesto

Every spring, I plant basil in my garden as it’s one of my favorite fresh herbs. By mid-summer, I have so much basil that I wonder why I planted so much for a 2-person household. Every summer is the same “why did I plant so much again”.

Luckily, there’s pesto. Yesterday, I picked a whole bunch of basil leaves and made thick, luscious pesto that I’ll toss with gnocchi tonight and freeze in ice cube trays for future use.

This recipe yields about a cup of pesto, but it can easily be doubled if you have tons of basil, like I do.

It’s perfect tossed with pasta, spread on sandwiches or used as a topping for grilled/roasted chicken or fish.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup, pine nuts (could use cashews or slivered almonds)
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves, cleaned, dried and slightly packed
• ⅓ cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tsp. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• Zest of half a lemon
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes, optional
• ½ cup high-quality olive oil

Instructions

1. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the pine nuts for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Carefully watch this process and shake the skillet periodically to ensure the nuts don’t burn.
2. In a food processor (could use a blender), add the remaining ingredients, including the nuts, except the oil. Pulse for about a minute then run for about 30 seconds until the ingredients are finely incorporated.
3. With the food processor running, stream the oil into the pesto until fully emulsified, about 30 seconds. Taste the pesto and add more Parmesan cheese if you want a cheesier pesto.
4. I store the pesto I’m going to use within a week in a canning jar in the fridge. For anything over a week, I place the pesto in ice cube trays, freeze fully then pop out of the trays, place in zip top bags and freeze for up to a couple months.