Homemade pesto

Holy cow. If you have never had fresh pesto, this is something to try immediately! The trick is to use ingredients as fresh as possible. It is worth buying a basil plant just to have fresh basil cause the leaves will give this such a pop. Also, when chopping up these ingredients, put in handfuls of each item at a time. that way some pieces are chopped into oblivion and others are still a little more coarse. It gives it an amazing flavor.

Mix this with some cooked pasta or just spread on fresh bread.

1 large bunch of basil, leaves only, washed and dried
3 medium cloves of garlic
one small handful of raw pine nuts
roughly 3/4 cup Parmesan, loosely packed and FRESHLY GRATED


lastly, a few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil.