I couldn't help but think of my Grandmother when I made my pasta the other night. My Grandmother lives in Florida and I'm pretty sure I've mentioned her before. One year, I think I was 12 or 13, my sister and I spent a month or so down in Florida without my parents. We were shuffled between my Grandmother's house, my Great Aunt's house and my Grandfather's house...We even took a weekend trip to the Keys! We stayed at one of my Aunt and Grandmother's friends' house in Big Pine Key. I remember swimming in the canals right off their back yard.
Anyway - one of the things I remember from that trip is Pesto Sauce. I remember having lunch with my Grandmother one day and she whipped up a batch of Pesto and threw it on some spaghetti and I LOVED it! I didn't find out until the other day that my Dad actually doesn't like Pesto - which would explain why this memory is really the only one I have of eating it.
Jerry loves to grow a garden in summer. I love fresh basil. We actually have 5 basil plants. There are 3 in a little box on my back deck and 2 more in his garden. The basil was starting to get big and we wanted to use some to make sure we get more when we need it...so, we made Pesto. Jerry actually likes it, too. Although, he swears he never had it before marrying me...so, I guess you could say that it's my Grandmother's "fault" Jerry tried Pesto, too!
Of course, the first thing we needed was a lot of basil:
Next, some yummy grated Parmesan:
Add some olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper:
Throw it all in the food processor and blend until you get something like this:
I know it doesn't look like it would be that good but trust me . . . it is SO yummy. We ate ours on spaghetti but we've also put it on bread before with a little melted cheese on top. It doesn't last long around here. Even Nate liked it!
I'm sure it isn't the last batch of Pesto we will be making this summer!
Anyway - one of the things I remember from that trip is Pesto Sauce. I remember having lunch with my Grandmother one day and she whipped up a batch of Pesto and threw it on some spaghetti and I LOVED it! I didn't find out until the other day that my Dad actually doesn't like Pesto - which would explain why this memory is really the only one I have of eating it.
Jerry loves to grow a garden in summer. I love fresh basil. We actually have 5 basil plants. There are 3 in a little box on my back deck and 2 more in his garden. The basil was starting to get big and we wanted to use some to make sure we get more when we need it...so, we made Pesto. Jerry actually likes it, too. Although, he swears he never had it before marrying me...so, I guess you could say that it's my Grandmother's "fault" Jerry tried Pesto, too!
Of course, the first thing we needed was a lot of basil:
Next, some yummy grated Parmesan:
Add some olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper:
Throw it all in the food processor and blend until you get something like this:
I know it doesn't look like it would be that good but trust me . . . it is SO yummy. We ate ours on spaghetti but we've also put it on bread before with a little melted cheese on top. It doesn't last long around here. Even Nate liked it!
I'm sure it isn't the last batch of Pesto we will be making this summer!
