I have a large basil plant growing in my garden. Having fresh herbs is great. This year I only have basil but it is doing so good it is making up for not having any other herbs.
One of the things I like to use my basil in, is pesto. We love pesto. It is so easy to make and it so flavorful. Most pesto recipes call for pine nuts. I like mine with walnuts though. I just like the flavor better. I also usually have some walnuts in the freezer, pine nuts are not something I keep on hand. I use my food processor to make this but I think a blender would work also. Last night I added some leftover cooked chicken that I had.
So here is the pesto version we like.
Walnut Basil Pesto
- 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 8 ounces of spaghetti or angel hair pasta, cooked
- Place basil, walnuts, parmesan cheese, and garlic in a food processor. Chop until pretty fine. It should be like a paste. Slowly pour in oil. Mix in processor until combined. Stir into hot, cooked pasta. This also makes a great sauce for a chicken pesto pizza.
- Recipe adapted from a Pampered Chef recipe.
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We LOVE pesto at our house! I grow basil in the summer (six or seven plants) and then in late August or early September I harvest it all and make pesto to freeze. We have enough that way to last the whole year. It freezes beautifully and is so easy to use (I’m really lazy, if I’m going to the work of making pesto, I’m only doing it once!). Beautiful picture, too. I haven’t quite gotten the whole picture thing down yet.
Jill