PESTO SAUCE

Pesto is one of the first things I really learned how to make from scratch. It’s such an easy go-to. The major key: Buy basil (in the summer is most ideal, but anytime is fine) and blend with olive oil, and FREEZE.
When winter rolls around and you’re craving a summer dish (and don’t have a plan for dinner)—defrost and blend in your pine nuts, garlic and parm and a little more olive oil. Then it still tastes fresh. So delish and easy!!

**Also if your’e on a budget (pine nuts can be STUPID expensive sometimes) you can substitute almonds or walnuts. Pesto is so versatile— it works in salads, on pasta, in a sandwich etc etc.

INGREDIENTS:
(The ingredient amounts for this depend on how much basil you are using. I would say you can usually get about 2-3 cups of basil from a big plant or thing you get from the grocery store so that is what these measurements are based on.)
2-3 cups fresh basil
3/4 cup grated parm
3/4 olive oil (have a little extra on hand to add if sauce is feeling a little dry)
handful of pine nuts or walnuts
Salt/pepper/red pepper flakes
* nicer olive oil definitely helps a lot here

As you can see by the photos above, add in basil first, then garlic, parm, pine nuts and olive oil. Blend in a food processor. A magic bullet also works well for this if you don’t have one. Once blended, see if it looks too liquidy or too dry and add either cheese or olive oil accordingly. Make sure to do bit by bit. Pesto is a lot about preference so definitely try as you go. I personally love garlic so my pesto always has a lot of that, but alter accordingly to what you like.