Sunday, September 7, 2008

Bounty from the garden

My basil has been going crazy all summer. I didn't have any luck growing any from seed this year, but fortunately, I found some large plants for sale at a good price. They did well in my garden and I finally got around to making some really good use of them. I started with the recipe from Simply Recipes, but ended up modifying it a bit.

Ingredients
4 cups fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
6 garlic cloves (we like garlic, you might want to use less)
2/3 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese (some recipes call for Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese)
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. Pulse the basil and garlic in a food processor. Stop to scrape down the sides as needed.

2. Add the pine nuts and pulse some more. Stop to scrape down the sides as needed.

3. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. (I have no idea why you need to add the oil in a steady stream rather than dumping it in all at once. But I guess that's why I'm not a chef, lol.)

4. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This made about 1 and 1/2 cups. I'm just guessing at the amount since I didn't meaure. It was plenty to cover 1 pound of penne pasta.