Pesto Basil

 It is time for pesto. I have been staying away from pasta and cheese. My wife Louise is a hard time with Pinenuts. Italian pinenuts she is fine with , but those imported from China that are not actually pinenuts give her what's called Pinemouth (something I've never heard about until Louise did research on the internets) and for a week her tasters are out of wack in a very bitter way.

 So my garden has enough basil, and it is time. I use a raw Hazelnut, Walnut, Pecan combo, a little over a cup that I toast in a small pan. About a cup packed basil. Juice and zest of one medium to large lemon. Three cloves of garlic. Some pecarino ramano, salt and pepper. Throw them a food processor, and blend until I get the consistency and I want. Taste often, and add more of any of the ingredients. Too thick? Add more oil or lemon (a splash of vinegar can work as well). Too thin? Add more nuts and cheese. I can go on, but it is really up to you tweeking and experimenting, finding what you like in a pesto.

 A recepie like pesto deffinitly needs to be a "to your own taste" experience. All the ingredients will vary in strength of flavor from region to region. If I put too many exact measurements you could get a very different product than mine, possibly in a bad way. Nope, I am going to force you to taste as you go. Take this example and play, you can try different nuts, oils, leafy greens, even cheeses. Want to be a bit more healthy? Omit the cheese altogether, you will be surprised how much you might not miss it. Try blanching the leaves for ten seconds in boiling water, put in a bowl ice water, remove and papertowl dry, then add them to the process to get an even brighter green pesto.

This Pesto was placed on a bed of Linguini, with grilled Flank steak and my broccoli as sides. The flower are chive flowers

A little grill action.