Pesto!

Last Saturday was the annual pesto making day at our house. I make up a year's supply of pesto for us to eat and to give away as gifts and bribes. The bribes are usually to entice our friends to feed and play with Big Kitty while when we're out of town. A couple of jars usually make their way up to a Yupik village in Alaska where my sister Sandra teaches school. We share the pesto with our friends and the rest we eat all year long on pasta, pizza or chicken. It's great to add to tomato sauce and soups as well.This year our crop of home grown basil was a bit skimpy so I had to supplement with basil from the Farmer's Market. Adrian assisted by plucking the leaves from the stems and washing all the leaves. Here's my recipe:

4-6 cups basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 cup grated parmesan/asiago cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
8 small cloves garlic
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp pepper

Dump everything into a food processor and give it a good whirl until everything is blended together. And that's it! I make many batches of this and dump it into a big glass bowl. I fill my jars once I've used up all of my ingredients. This year I made about eight or ten batches which resulted in 12 cups of green basily goodness. I use heavy lexan plastic 1 and 2 cup nalgene jars for my pesto because they don't retain odors, are very sturdy and work great for freezing. I ordered them from a laboratory supply house and I use them year after year. Friends and family know that if I don't get my nalgene jars back after they've eaten the pesto they will be cut off the following year. I am quite fierce about this. The jars of pesto go into the deep freeze and last all year long. I keep a jar in my refrigerator which can last several months without a problem. Adrian and I are going camping next week and we need someone to watch Big Kitty. I've got a 1 cup jar of fresh pesto for anyone who is willing to watch her!