My basil is abundant right now and you know I can’t let it go to waste. So when life gives you tons of basil, make this Homemade Basil Pesto!
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I’ve always been fortunate enough to grow lots of beautiful basil.
The good thing about having too much basil is that you can easily make awesome pesto, and freeze it in little resealable baggies to use later!
My cilantro, on the other hand…well, let’s just say it has seen better days. I give up. Sorry, cilantro. 🙁
This is all you’ll need: fresh basil leaves, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Oh, and a food processor. Simple enough, huh?
I love to grill and made these chicken pesto sandwiches with my fresh basil pesto. Easy, healthy and addictive! Once you make them, they’ll be on your family’s menu indefinitely… trust me!
- 3 cups packed fresh basil leaves (rinsed and dried)
- ⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- Place basil leaves and pine nuts in a food processor. Pulse until combined well.
- Add olive oil, a little at a time, pulsing in-between.
- Add Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Pulse until mixture is a coarse consistency. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate.
I laughed out loud when I saw your cilantro picture — but only because that’s EXACTLY what my sad cilantro looks like right now. My basil is doing great, so I look forward to making this!
I’ve heard that cilantro prefers colder weather, and because it will re-seed itself, there’s hope that later in the summer it may be a little happier. I’ll cross my fingers for us both that there’s some truth to that!
LOL! It makes me feel better to know that I’m not the only one having trouble growing cilantro. Thanks Halley, you gave me hope…I will keep watering it & cross my fingers it can somehow revive! 🙂