The Sisters have been rising with the sun over the past couple of months to get our gardens going for summer. We have six different vegetable gardens in plots of land all over our community. Some cover acres of land and others are smaller plots, but they all need the love and care it takes to get them going. As we were working this morning, putting the last of our basil seedlings in the ground, I was getting excited about the prospect of harvesting and cooking some of my favorite dishes. Who doesn’t love a big bowl of steamy pasta tossed in pesto and sprinkled with parmesan cheese?
This recipe is one of my favorites for pesto. It’s a bit lighter and more of a sauce. It’s loaded with flavor and makes an elegant dish when used with tortellini, fettucini or one of the other heartier pastas that can stand up to pesto. It introduces the aromatic flavor of parsley with the basil and the lemon juice helps keep the herbs vibrant. If you’re making a regular pesto, I was taught in Italy to throw an ice cube in when blending the basil as this also helps keep the color bright and green. This can be refrigerated or frozen indefinitely for future use; just warm it up at room temperature – do not cook or heat.
SERVINGS2pintsCHANGE SERVING SIZEpints |
COOK TIME0mins |
PREP TIME10mins |
READY IN15mins (or less) |
Ingredients
- 2 cups olive oil
- 2 cups basil fresh whole leaves, firmly packed
- 2 cups fresh parsley leaves
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts or toasted walnuts (toast on a sheet pan in an oven, when you can smell them, they are done!)
- 1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup pecorino or romano cheese freshly grated
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients except the basil into a blender and grind thoroughly.
- Add the basil and grind until creamy texture is achieved. No cooking is needed.
- This amount of sauce is enough for 1 pound of pasta of your choice.
