Pesto

Fresh pesto, though seemingly sophisticated, is one of the tastiest and easiest recipes that you could ever ask for. Unless of course you don't like basil. There are lots of fun, modern takes on pesto using other base ingredients...sort of analogous to "italian salsa" or "mexican spaghetti", but the traditional version involves mostly fresh basil and olive oil. As I'm sure you know, pesto is great on bread or crackers as an appetizer or over pasta in place of other sauces. Other creative uses of pesto include as a topping for chicken or other meat, especially grilled, or swirled into soup as a garnish. The cheese in this recipe is optional but I think it adds a nice tang. Also I love cheese.

Pesto
Time: 5-10 minutes

2.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh basil (must be fresh, NOT dried; very full tablespoons)
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (grated blends better)
1 small or 1/2 large clove of garlic, peeled, "knot" cut off

Place all of the ingredients in a mini food chopper/processor or a blender. Go. If you double or triple the recipe, use proportionately less oil (don't double or triple the amount).

It's really that easy if you have a little chopper (1-3 cup electric type, see pic). If you don't have one I highly recommend getting one. They're pretty cheap and make many kitchen tasks go more quickly and easily. Also most have dishwasher safe parts. If you still refuse to get one, you can make the pesto by hand by slicing up the basil and garlic as small as possible, making sure the cheese is finely grated, and then combining everything in a bowl. By the way, it's also fairly important to use extra virgin or another good quality olive oil because the flavor is an integral part of the pesto.



For a special touch, mix in whole pine nuts (pignolis) after chopping and mixing. By the way, pesto apparently freezes really well. Many food-sites suggest freezing little portions in ice-cubes trays and then transfering the blocks to freezer bags for long-term storage. This is a great idea if you grow your own basil and want to have large amounts of pesto around for the winter. Actually, in Texas you can probably grow the stuff almost year round!