For our anniversary my mom bought me, well us, a food processor. Even though our anniversary isn't for a couple more weeks (and my mom gave it to us a month ago) I pulled it out and decided to give it a whirl. I'm in love! It is super quiet and easy.
My son was being fussy and really wanted to go outside (it has been raining most of the day) so I took him out and we picked a bunch of basil. It wasn't easy getting him back inside buy once I did he helped me make the pesto.
Pesto is traditionally made with pine nuts but today we made it with walnuts because that is what we had. I chopped the garlic and measured out the cheese and my son got to pour it in the processor and the best part...push the buttons!
I think because I used walnuts and it took a little longer (because of my help) our pesto turned a little dark but the flavor was and is still there. It actually looked a little like olive tapenade. Oh well.
Here is the simple recipe:
Walnut Pesto
4 cups basil, packed
1 1/4 cup walnuts
2-3 medium/large garlic cloves
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
In a food processor, pulse the basil leaves until coarsely chopped. Add the walnuts, garlic and cheese, pulse until blended. While processor is running, stream in the oil.
Use or freeze. I used baby food freezer trays that are just over 1/4 cup to divide and freeze my pesto. This way I can use just what I need and save the rest for later.
You can do all sorts of things with pesto, here are just a few:
-toss with your favorite pasta
-mix in with your ground beef or turkey and make a pesto burger
-mix with mayonnaise and use as a spread on your sandwich
-mix with butter and spread on corn
-toss with green beans
-brush over a grilled steak
Enjoy! (don't be scared of the color, it still tastes great!)
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