Making your own pesto sauce is a delightful and straightforward process that adds a fresh, vibrant taste to a variety of dishes. Our herb garden has grown like crazy this year, especially our basil. We dried some of it but we still had a tremendous amount left and not wanting it to go to waste we decided to make our own Pesto this year. When I started researching making your own pesto, I didn’t realize how easy and quick of process this would be. This classic basil pesto recipe calls for a handful of simple ingredients: fresh basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, salt and olive oil. I headed off of to the store to pick up some pine nuts, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Living in a rural area we have limited choices on grocery stores and I wasn’t even sure they would have them. I was excited when I found them, but I also had sticker shock when I saw the price tag on the shelf ($5.89 for 4 ounces or ½ cup). I picked up the only pack they had left and started researching alternatives to pine nuts because we had a solid 8 cups of fresh basil to make into pesto. Many different articles listed almonds, walnuts and pistachios as good alternatives for pine nuts. I’m going to be honest I really didn’t want to spend over $20 for pine nuts and the grocery store only had one pack so I bought the cheapest alternative almonds. We made the first batch with the pine nuts and followed the recipe. The pesto came out really good. For the second batch we followed the recipe and used toasted almond slivers instead of pine nuts. The taste wasn’t that different, but we noticed the almond slivers were in bigger pieces after we put them through the food processor. Since we still had a good 4 cups of basil left, we did a double batch. This time after we toasted the almonds, we got out the mortar and pestle and ground up almonds before adding them to the food processor. In my opinion this was the best way to crush the almonds, and I would use it for any nuts that I was going to add to my pesto. We also added some fresh leeks, oregano and thyme from our herb garden to the pesto. Needless to say, adding the extra fresh herbs really made the taste of our pesto pop. That is one of the advantages of making your pesto or sauces is that flexibility add ingredients and spices to suit your taste buds and dietary needs.

For one batch (which will fill up half of an ice cube tray) you'll want to wash and dry about two cups of fresh basil leaves. We toasted the pine nuts in a cast iron skillet, this really brought out the flavor in the nuts. In a food processor, combine the basil with two cloves of garlic (we cut these in half), 1/2 cup of pine nuts, and 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. If you want to add any other fresh herbs go ahead an put them in. Pulse these ingredients until they are finely chopped.

Next, with the food processor running, slowly drizzle in about 1/2 cup of extra-virgin olive oil. This will help to emulsify the sauce and bring everything together into a smooth, rich consistency. You may need to stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the processor to ensure everything is well combined. Season the pesto with salt and pepper to taste. Feel free to adjust the amounts of garlic and cheese according to your personal preference.

Pesto sauce freezes exceptionally well, making it a great option for preserving the vibrant flavors of summer basil for use throughout the year. To freeze, you can use ice cube trays for convenient, single-serving portions. Simply spoon the pesto into the trays, freeze until solid, then transfer the cubes to a resealable plastic bag or airtight container. When you're ready to use the pesto, thaw it in the refrigerator or at room temperature. This delicious is ready to enhance your pasta, garlic bread, sandwiches, or any dish that could use a burst of herby goodness.

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