Basil Harvest~Pesto

Harvest season coincides with holiday preparations in our land of temperate climate, thus I am decking the halls, readying for Christmas baking, and making pesto from my last big basil harvest all in the same week. Our few olive trees will be picked tomorrow, insha'allah.

For some unidentified reason, is has been several years since I, lover of basil, have taken the time to make pesto. It really doesn't take much time. It's been so long that I couldn't even find my recipe--the one I made back in the days when pine nuts didn't cost $20 a pound. So, I perused a few pesto recipes ala Pinterest and in the end made something that wasn't really like any that I had referred to for inspiration.

Basil Pesto

2 stuffed cups of basil 

1/2 cup toasted walnuts

2 medium cloves fresh garlic 

1/2 grated Parmesan or Grand Padano cheese

1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Combine basil, walnuts, garlic, cheese in the food processor and process until well blended. Add lemon juice, salt, and olive oil, continue processing, scraping down sides as needed.  This recipe is easily doubled--I made two double recipes today. The jar in the picture went into the refrigerator and the rest into the freezer and to a friend.

Note bene: depending how much of a garlic bite you like your pesto to have, you can alter the quantity of garlic. My garlic was pretty strong and with two medium cloves it has a distinct garlic bite. One recipe I with lesser quantities of similar ingredients called for 4-6 cloves of garlic. I can't imagine.