Pesto!

Everytime I go to Wegman’s (an upstate NY grocery) I stop to smell the hydroponic basil.   They sell packs of basil, in dirt, ready for planting, but equally ready for making pesto.

As usual, I hit up about 10-20 recipes online to identify the standard ingredients and ratios.   Also, a goal was to eliminate the pine nuts.  I only use them in pesto, can never buy them in small enough packages, and hate letting the remainder go to waste.

So, here is my starting recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c basil leaves (the yield from one pack at Wegman’s)

1/2 c grated parmesan cheese

1/4 c olive oil

2 cloves garlic

Method:

Chop garlic in food processor, add remaining ingredients and process to a paste.

Thoughts:

It tastes fine without the pine nuts, but I’d like to try less cheese next time.  The garlic’s a touch strong, but without the pine nuts is probably necessary.   Maybe double the batch and only use 2-3 garlic cloves?

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