Pesto. We can’t get enough of it in our household. We put it with bread. We put it with pasta. We even put it with rice! It’s delicious but expensive if you eat it like we do. This year I decided to attempt making it myself and it turned out great.

Did you know that you don’t have to use the traditional pine nuts to make pesto? No, I didn’t either. I ended up using walnuts instead because that’s what I had on hand. But, enough with the talk, let’s get to the recipe!

First, I started off with fresh basil from my garden. If you have any room for a pot somewhere in the sun, I suggest you try growing basil. It is so simple and really takes off in a hot dry climate like Oklahoma. If you don’t have fresh “from the ground” basil, you can use fresh “from the store” basil. Anyway, I grabbed a good handful of basil.

Next, I washed it off, taking special care not to have any little critters (or extra protein as Clay calls them) in the pesto. I am putting this pesto over Rising Moon Organics Feta-Hazelnut Ravioli (which is to die for on its own).

After washing and drying my basil, I pulled off the leaves and into the food processor they went with about a cup of walnuts. You don’t have to use walnuts, that’s just what I had on hand. You could use traditional pine nuts or cashews, just experiment!

On went the lid of my trusty food processor. It is now time to add the glue that sticks the whole pesto together! Extra virgin olive oil.  “How much?” you ask??? Well it really depends on how liquid you like your pesto. I used probably 1/4 cup give or take. I like the earthy taste of the oil and walnuts are a drier nut.

I save my seasonings for last. You don’t have too, I just did for the pictures sake. About a 1/2 a tablespoon of sea salt, one clove of garlic, and 1/4 tablespoon of pepper. Now, this is all to taste. My family’s taste. You may prefer things less salty/more peppery, just play around with the recipe!

My finished product looked like this! This was enough pesto for two helpings of pasta for lunch!

Enjoy!