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?