Pesto

About 4 cups

This recipe was passed down to me by an old friend of my mother’s, Max Buser, who owned a wonderful restaurant in Westchester County in NY called the Brasserie Swiss. I grew up spoiled by his delectable concoctions, of which this was one.

ingredients

1/2 c pine nuts
4 cloves garlic (or more to taste)
1 tsp kosher salt or sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3-4 c fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 c olive oil
1/4 lb (about 1/2 - 3/4 c) grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 lb (about 1/2 - 3/4 c) grated Romano cheese

directions

1
Brown the nuts in a skillet with a touch of butter or olive oil. Put the nuts, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor and blend until very fine (you could also do this by hand, I suppose). Add the basil, cheeses, and 1/2 c olive oil. Process until smooth and creamy, adding olive oil in small amounts until it is the consistency you like.
2
Taste and add more of anything you want more of.

1
Ideas for using pesto
2
Tomato Pesto Soup
3
Heat a can of tomato soup and put in bowls. Put a dollop of sour cream in the center of each bowl, put a dollop of pesto on top of the sour cream, stir just a bit to make it look nice, and serve.
4
Pesto Potato Salad
5
Cut a bunch of new potatoes into bite-size pieces. Boil the potatoes until they are tender in the center, but DO NOT OVERCOOK. Drain potatoes and add some sour cream, a bit of mayonnaise (just for consistency, so not very much), pesto, salt, and pepper to taste. I like this salad warm, rather than straight from the fridge. This could also be done with pasta for a cold pasta pesto salad.