Authentic Basil Pesto

Perfectly Perfect Pesto

Prep. Time: 30 Minutes

Total Time: 30 Minutes

I adore pesto. It is my absolute favorite thing in the whole wide world. I loved going to my uncle's house because his now ex-wife used to always make it for me. I would always request it with her brownies. They were the out of the box kind, but they were so good. But the pesto, the pesto was amazing. She would pour it on some fettuccine, and I would literally die. She gave me the recipe, but I didn't like it after I made it. It was more of a thick sauce. I may have added to much oil. But more than anything, the food processor literally pulverized it. I now know better.

Pesto. It smells heavenly. The basil smells so earthy. It has the perfect amount of sharpness to it. It's fresh, and just calls you over. Add the amazing touch of garlic and you already have a winner. Now, there are the pine nuts. Toasted, you literally taste the nuttiness. And you can't forget the cheese. It's sharp, it's tangy, it's perfect Parmesan. The Extra Virgin Olive Oil adds the fattiness. It adds the extra nuttiness. And best of all, it adds a balanced amount of savory. This oil transforms your pesto from plain to magical. This pesto may call for a bit of extra work, but trust me: IT. IS. WORTH. IT. You will fall in love. The coarseness of some of the ingredients takes it from a thin sauce to a beautiful consistency of difference in texture. This goes great in pasta, pizza, and even with dips for almost anything. AND, soon to come will be some of those great recipes!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Fresh Basil Leaves (Rinsed, Dried, Loosely Packed)

1/3 Cup Pine Nuts (Lightly Toasted)

3 Cloves Garlic

2/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese (Freshly Grated)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (A Few Tablespoons)

Directions:

Grab a cutting board and a sharp dicing knife. Start off by dicing the garlic. Now add a third of the basil. Dice this all together. Add a little more basil. Dice some more. Now, add the rest of the basil. Dice till it is all pretty fine. Add half the pine nuts. Dice it all in. Add some cheese. Dice that in too. Add the rest of the cheese and pine nuts and dice it all in. You want all the ingredients to be evenly and finely diced so that you can literally squish them together into like a little cake. Put your cake in a bowl and put some olive oil on it. I only put a few tablespoons, and I dilute in more depending on what I am using the pesto for. Also, I did not add any salt. For some reason, the pesto goes bad faster. Plus, this way I can put it into anything and not worry about it over salting my food. Keep this pesto refrigerated, that is if it lasts that long!