Every year, I grow about 4 basil plants. They are great for drying, canning winter salads, and of course… PESTO.

My son Hunter calls pasta cooked with Pesto sauce Green Noodles. So, I definitely felt like that was a great name for this recipe. In reality, you don’t have to limit this pesto recipe to just pasta. In my recipe How to Make Flavorful Meatballs at Home: Tips Included – you’ll see that I list pesto in the recipe. This is the pesto that I used for that recipe. My husband told me that it was one of the best meals he’d ever had in his life. I’ll also add pesto to soup, eggs, etc.! Turns out I do enjoy green eggs and ham. The easiest way I incorporate pesto to make Hunters Green noodles is to cook the pasta. Then at the end when I drain the water, I’ll add a tad of butter and pesto and mix until I’m happy.

The recipe is 100x easier than you’d expect. And if you grow your own basil, it’ll save you money, too. Not to mention that almost anything you make at home is going to be better than at the store. If you are taking the basil out of the garden, make sure to keep out anything woody. It will give the pesto a stringy texture. And you don’t want that.

I do freeze these in a glass container. They last in the freezer for at least a year for me. Once placed in the fridge, they last up to 3 weeks.

Pesto

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Servings: 1 Cup

Course: Main Course, Preserves, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Italian

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 1/4 cup Basil Leaves Washed
• 2 cloves Garlic Ends trimmed and skin removed
• 1/2 tsp Salt Or to taste
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1/3 cup Pine Nuts
• 1 cup Parmesan shredded

Equipment

• 1 Food Processor

Method

 

1. Add all the ingredients to your food processor and mix until well combined.
2. Test the taste for salt. Add more if desired.
3. If using for pasta, add to cooked pasta after the water has been drained. Enjoy!