Marilyn Martin's Recipe

Pesto & Pasta Recipe

Category: Recipes

My Best Friend’s Pesto
(for 1 lb. of pasta)

2 cups loosely packed basil
1/3 cup good quality olive oil
1/3 cup cold water
2 to 4 cloves garlic (2 is fine, 4 is robust)
½ cup toasted pine nuts
¼ tsp. salt at first
½ to 1 cup freshly grated parmesan

Add all ingredients, except cheese, to blender in the order given. Blend until completely smooth. Transfer to large bowl. Stir in cheese, saving some to sprinkle on right before serving. Taste pesto for seasoning. Add more salt if necessary. Toss with hot pasta. Serve at once.

Note: Substitute parsley and walnuts if you don’t have fresh basil or pine nuts or use any combination of parsley, basil, walnuts and pine nuts. It’s still superb. Pesto can be frozen beautifully, just leave out the cheese. It's best thawed in the fridge, but you can give it a start in the microwave for 30 seconds.