My basil is simple, straight-forward, traditional, easy and delicious! I usually have about three different basils going in my garden and I like to combine them in this pesto. Here we go!

Basil Pesto

INGREDIENTS

LARGE amount of basil, several cups, washed, leaves picked off stems

1-2 lemons, juiced

1/4-1/2 c shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano

1/4 c pine nuts

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4-1/2 c extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

a sink full of harvested basil! Pick all the leaves from the stems, big and small, and wash carefully.

Ingredients prepped for a trip to the food processor.

Everything can be processed together (I don’t even shred the cheese). Add olive oil to achieve the proper consistency. Add lemon, salt and pepper to taste.

Toss your pesto with hot pasta and serve with extra cheese.

When basil plants flower, flowers can be picked off to keep the plant producing. Eventually though the plant will stop producing new leaves. At this point, pull up the entire plant and harvest the leaves.

Clean basil leaves can be frozen in freezer bags but I like to make it all into pesto and freeze the pesto in ice cube trays. I can pop some out for soups and stews, for dressing up chicken or my favorite way: over pasta!