Pesto Pasta

A big thank you to my colleague at the South Clinic, Dennis McCrea, for sharing a generous bag of freshly picked basil with me! When I've got this much basil, the best move is to whip up a big batch of pesto, and freeze the extra for another day. I’ve also discovered that toasted walnuts are a great (and more affordable) substitute for pricey pine nuts.  As for the recipe... I usually just taste and adjust as I go, so the measurements are more of a rough estimate!

Ingredients:
4 cups tightly packed fresh basil
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
1 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons salt - add one then taste to see how much more you want!
one package pasta

Instructions:
Make the pasta according to package, saving about a 1/2 cup of cooking water to use to mix with the pesto.

Dump all the ingredients into a food processor.  Be sure to only add 1/2 of the salt to start.  Process until it becomes a paste-like texture.  Adding more olive oil if it is too thick/dry.  Then taste and add more salt as needed. 

Toss a good amount of sauce with the pasta and some of the left over pasta water.

With any extra pesto you have, put it in an ice cube tray and put it in the freezer.  Then you can store the cubes in a Ziplock and use as needed for a future meal.

Enjoy!