Summer tastes like.... Pesto!

This blog may be a little late coming... but here it is none the less! Two years ago, my seester and I attended a gathering at Sarah Mihalik's house. She made this wonderful pesto pasta and was kind enough to share the recipe with us. I still can't believe how easy it is!!! Pesto pasta is my favorite thing to eat in the summer, it's light (much lighter than a red sauce), which is perfect for the heat we've been having lately, but still satisfying. For the past two summers now I've grown my own basil plants which also makes this pesto recipe extremely cost effective. My 3 year old son, who is quite possibly the second pickiest eater in the world (after my husband), also loves this "green sketti", which makes this recipe an A+ in my book. I like to make a batch every time my basil leaves rejuvenate on my plant and then freeze the pesto so that I have it through out the year (buying basil in the winter can be expensive because it's out of season).

Pesto

- 2 cups of basil (or two large handfuls)

- salt and pepper to taste

- 4 tablespoons of pine nuts

- 5 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

- 1 large garlic clove

- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor, combine basil, pine nuts, cheese, and garlic. Pulse machine until ingredients finely chopped. Stream in extra virgin olive oil. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste very last. Remember that Parmesan is a very salty cheese and you can easily ruin your pesto by adding too much salt (I've done it before, lol.) I use the pesto on pasta... but the uses are endless! You can use it as a sauce for chicken, on bruschetta, served with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella... I've even thought about making it into a alfredo-like cream sauce! Most commonly, I add it to pasta and serve with grilled chicken tossed in the pasta. One batch of pesto will give you enough pesto for 1-2lbs of pasta, depending on how "saucy" you like your pasta!

Tips: Some people claim that the Parmesan cheese should be left out and added after thawing if you are planning on freezing your pesto batches. Personally, I don't think it's worth the trouble... so I make my pesto the same way I always do and freeze it. It turns out just fine after thawing.

Also, keep your left over pine nuts in the freezer to help prolong their life. Pine nuts have a high oil content which can easily spoil if left at room temperature. That's the last thing you need since pine nuts are a little pricey. I buy mine at Wal-Mart in the baking section in a resealable bag that yields me about 4-5 batches (brand is Fisher's) for about $5.

I find that the pesto pasta (if that's how you're choosing to serve your pesto) is best when served hot. As the pasta cools, it tends to get a little dry. With red sauce, you have a lot of liquid content that the pasta is able to absorb, keeping the pasta from getting dry. However, the pesto is a dry sauce to begin with. So, if I end up with left overs I always drizzle the pasta with a little extra EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) when re-heating. Another trick to keeping the pasta from drying out is to leave a little bit of pasta water on it when you drain it instead of draining it dry. The pasta water that you boiled the pasta in will add moisture and has a surprising amount of flavor too!