Last summer Matt and I grew basil in our vegetable garden.  We had six plants that completely took over the whole front of the garden and blocked the sunlight to the rest of the garden — this summer the basil will be going in the back!  I’m looking forward to planting basil again so that we can make homemade pesto whenever we want.  Here’s the recipe that we use (from Matt’s Mom’s recipe box).

Basil Pesto

You will need…
2 1/2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan (or Parmesan/Romano) Cheese
3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 cloves of Garlic
1/2 cup Roasted Pine Nuts
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions:
Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend!  Add more olive oil if the Pesto is too thick.

What can you do with Pesto?

• Put Pesto on a Burger with some Mozzarella and a Slice of Tomato
• Use Pesto instead of Tomato Sauce as your base for a Little Pizza
• Make Pesto Pasta.  Yum!
• Spread it on Rustic Italian Bread (as a snack or part of a sandwich)
• Spoon it into an Ice Cube Tray and Freeze It to Use Later!  (you can bag the pesto cubes once they have frozen solid)