A creamy, flavorful sauce that tastes better than the stuff from Costco.
A couple of months ago, because of the whole lockdown situation, my mom picked up gardening. She went to Home Depot(where else?) and carefully picked out cherry tomato seeds, cucumber seeds, strawberry plants, and a small basil plant. The rest of us all pitched in and helped her water, weed and plant the, well, plants into fresh soil. Now, we have fresh strawberries, cherry tomatoes, and basil ready whenever we want. The cucumber plants didn't flourish since some animal ate them all:(
I don't know what it is about food from your own garden, but when you grow the food yourself and eat it, it tastes better. Maybe it's because it's fresh and there are no pesticides or preservatives, or just the feeling of taking the time to plant something and(literally) reaping the results. Probably a combination of both.
So, a few weeks ago, when I was cooking some pasta, I thought, "Why not make some homemade pesto to go with it? " I looked up a basic recipe: olive oil, basil(duh), cheese, and nuts. So I basically mixed all those ingredients together and added some other stuff. Like garlic. I loooove garlic. I honestly don't know why. Something about the flavor, the slightly spice-y, warm, rich flavor is super appealing to me. So I put it in everything I can nowadays. Pizza, pasta, if it's savory, there's probably going to be garlic in it.
This recipe is super simple. Just put in all the ingredients into a blender, food processor, or even use a stick blender(although that will take a bit longer), mash it all up, and you're done. It couldn't be easier. And the best part? It's super flexible, so you can usually make it with whatever you have on hand, even if you don't have the exact ingredients. (Except basil. What's basil pesto without basil?)
A lunch I made recently using this basil pesto recipe.
Basil Pesto Sauce
Cuisine: Italian
Course: Sauce?
Author: Prachi Marfatia
Serves: 2(makes about 1.5 cups)
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup walnuts, pine nuts, or pecans
Directions:
Put walnuts and olive oil in blender/food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend again. Pour onto your favorite dish and enjoy!
(Leftovers can be refrigerated for about 2 weeks.)