How To :: Homemade Pesto

Years ago my grandmother (my mom’s mom) wrote down all of her favorite family recipes in a little notebook for me as a Christmas gift. It meant the world to me then. It means even more to me now that she’s gone (and it will be impossible for me to get through writing this blog post without crying a little).

There is a note in the front of the book that starts, “My sweet baby” I can hear her voice when I read it. She gives some great advice, to use whole milk, real butter, and real cream cheese, “If you’re going to go to the trouble you might as well use the best and freshest ingredients you can get. But then I never worry about fat or calories either!”

If there is ever a fire or natural disaster this book is the one thing in my house I would grab. I cherish it and every time I make a recipe from it it’s like she’s there in the kitchen with me.

Recently a friend gave me a large bunch of home grown organic basil from her garden, which only meant one thing, I needed Gram’s Homemade Pesto Recipe.

3 Cups packed fresh basil (no stems)
2 Large cloves fresh garlic
1/2 Cup pine nuts (or walnuts, or almonds)
3/4 Cup fresh parsley
3/4 Cup fresh grated parmesian or romano
1/2 Cup olive oil
1/4 Cup melted butter
Salt to taste

Bill helped me by pulling all the leaves off the stems, washing them, and making sure none of the flowers or seed pods got mixed in with the leaves.

See flowers and seed pods. I love cooking with him, he’s always so curious and fascinated about things when we cook. It makes me smile.

Combine everything except the butter in a blender and start on low, then move to medium. When pesto is pureed, pour the melted butter into the blender spout as it continues to mix.

Toss with hot, drained pasta.

Her note at the end states, “You can buy pesto in a jar since I got this recipe but it is not nearly as good as the fresh.” I agree completely Gram.

Note: I ended up using a stick blender to finish it off, I think there was just too much in my blender. Pesto will keep for about two weeks in the fridge. After we ate some for dinner the day we made it I added it to ice cube trays and froze it. The ice cube sizes make for great serving sizes.