We’re big pesto fans in our house, so I make sure we always have it on hand. Our favorite uses are mixed with fettuccine and on top of pizza with Feta cheese and Kalamata olives.

TIP: As self-proclaimed Queen Of Freeze, when I make pesto, I make plenty and freeze it in 1 cup batches.

The longest step in making this recipe is cleaning the basil – I wash each leaf separately so there are no bits of debris lingering in the crevises. Other than that, it’s just throwing all the ingredients into a blender and pushing the on button.

NOTE: I’ve not tried blending the ingredients in my food processor since I like using the vortex action of a blender. But it would probably be fine to use a food processor.

PESTO – makes 2 cups

• 170g (6 oz) (4 cups) fresh basil leafs
• 8 cloves garlic, chopped – use less if you’re not a big garlic lover
• 42g (3 T) lemon juice
• 88g (1 cup) Pecorino Romano (or any hard cheese of your choice, such as Parmesan)
• 44g (1/2 cup) pine nuts
• 114g (2/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp table salt

Place all ingredients in a blender.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Don’t have the blender running when you’re scraping down the ingredients.  I’ve done that with a wooden spoon.  More than once I’ve had the spoon get pushed down to the blades, yielding wood chips into my pesto which, of course, I had to throw out.  So please take my advice – just turn the machine off each time you smoosh down!  Throwing out food is heart breaking….and a waste of time and money.

Pulse several times to get desired consistency scraping down sides as needed.

If your machine doesn’t have a pulse button, turn the machine on a low speed.  Turn it off and smoosh the ingredients around.  Turn it on again for a few seconds, then stop. Smoosh it around again.  Keep doing this until it finally starts cycling on it’s own.