Pesto

My new FAVORITE thing... PESTO! I absolutely love it & can't believe I waited until I was 28 to try it. I made it from scratch this past weekend. It was incredibly easy to make with our food processor, was SO flavorful, & can be used with many dishes. *Note: these recipes call for Pine Nuts, which can be kind of pricey. Feel free to substitute with Walnuts.*

Here is the recipe I made, courtesy of Barefoot Contessa:

Pesto Yields: 4 cups
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves) *I used about 5 to 6 cloves & that was plenty!
5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan *I added extra!

*Place the walnuts, pine nuts, & garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, & pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube & process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan & puree for a minute. Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator.
*****************************************************
Another version to consider is this one by Ellie Krieger, who is also from the Foodnetwork. Ellie is known for making dishes healthier & lighter. I was able to make this recipe in our mini-food processor!

Pesto Yields: 3/4 cup
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 clove garlic
3 cups fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt & pepper

*Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over a medium heat until fragrant & golden brown, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. In a food processor, process the pine nuts & the garlic until minced. Add the basil, Parmesan cheese & lemon juice and process until finely minced. With processor on, slowly pour the oil down the food chute. Process until well blended. Season with salt & pepper, to taste.

Serving Suggestions: There is SO much that you can do with pesto. Here are just a few ideas...

-I used the pesto on homemade pizza in place of red sauce. Chris & I loved it so much that we had pizza 3 times this week :) Also, look in the grocery store for pizza-sized pita bread & use that in place of regular pizza dough. No rolling out the dough, bakes faster, & is much lighter!
-We also brought some pesto along to our picnic at Ravinia last weekend. We used it as a spread to make little Caprese sandwiches (ciabatta bread, spread pesto on the inside, top with sliced tomatoes, & slices of fresh mozzarella cheese). They were SO flavorful!
-Or use pesto with any type of pasta dish (hot or cold)!
-Any other suggestions???

*Photo courtesy of Barefoot Contessa

Pesto