Two Basil Pesto

• 5 1/2 ounces of fresh basil, about 6 cups packed
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 2 large cloves garlic
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Pick the leaves off your basil, wash and spin dry. Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat. Watch them carefully because you want them to be lightly browned, not burned. Remove them from the heat when you start to smell their nutty aroma.

Mince the two cloves of garlic. Then sprinkle the 1/2 teaspoon of salt over the garlic. Using the side of your knife, mash the salt into the garlic making a paste.

Place the basil, pine nuts, garlic and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of your food processor or blender. Process until it forms a paste. Drizzle the remaining olive oil into the paste while the machine is running. Stop the machine, add the cheese and process to blend together. Taste and add fresh ground black pepper as needed.

To freeze your pesto, fill the individual sections of an icecube tray with pesto. Place in your freezer until frozen. Remove the cubes from the tray and package in zip closure freezer bags for longer term storage.

Some things to remember when making your pesto:

• Quantities are approximate. Use this recipe as a guide. A little more or less of anything just makes the resulting pesto more yours. No two batches of my pesto are ever the same.
• While pest is traditionally made with basil you can experiment with other herbs as well.
• You don't have pine nuts? Substitute walnuts.
• You can substitute Pecorino Romano cheese in place of or along with Parmesan cheese. Use what you have.