Pesto is one of my favorite pasta sauces and it is really easy to make and nearly foolproof.  The trick is to use the freshest basil you can find, and the highest quality cheese available.  Do this and your sauce will be fantastic!

This recipe comes from Marcella Hazan who is my source for all things traditional and Italian. She never fails to give a great recipe! I use the food processor/blender method to make this sauce, since I don’t have a large mortar and pestle (and really don’t have the patience to make it that way!) So if you have some fresh basil available whip this up and enjoy it this summer!

Step 1: Find good basil. I got mine from our local farmers market, and I bough two large bunches and doubled the recipe below.  Wash the basil and remove the leaves from the big stems, but its ok if some of the smaller, more tender stems stay with the leaves.  Then let the basil dry. Put three tablespoons butter out on the counter in a bowl to soften.

Step 2: Mince 2 large garlic cloves and put them into a blender or food processor with a half cup good oilve oil and 2 tablespoons pine nuts.  Then add the basil – enough to fill two cups with the leaves pretty densely packed.

Step 3: Blend the basil and oil mixture until the leaves are all cut up and the basil is well mixed in with the oil. I used the chop setting on my belnder and it worked best.  I am still food processor-less so I didn’t have the food processor option, but I think a chop setting would be good on that too.  Basically you don’t want to pulvirize the basil, just get it small enough to form a nice saucy texture.

Step 4: Remove the sauce from the blender into a large bowl, and mix in 1/2 cup parmesean cheese plus two tablespoons of romano cheese.  Fold the cheese into the sauce with a spatula and mix only until the cheese has been evenly distributed. Then add the three tablespoons of softened butter and mix that until it is distributed.Serve over your choice of pasta. I added some chicken sauteed in butter and garlic to this dish because protien was requested, but it is definitely not necessary.