Basil Pesto

Besides songwriting, I never thought much about what I should do with my life.  When I put music on the back burner a few years ago, I started brainstorming career ideas.  For six months I was really excited about becoming a yoga instructor.  When that idea fizzled, I did research on starting an organizational consultant company.  Cleaning people's closets sounded boring so I moved on and started posting Craigslist ads for “songwriting instructor for children”.  After no replies, I drafted an outline for a self help book but realized that I would benefit more from reading one than writing one.

This month I’m considering getting a culinary degree.  I went as far as taking a tour of a local school, researching financial options and getting feedback from family and friends.  I have a paralyzing fear of life changing decisions (and being in debt until I hit menopause) but a culinary degree could bring my blog to new heights and allow me to cook all day, which sounds like a dream come true.  I’m finding ways upon ways to postpone making a decision.  Only time will tell.  Start placing your bets. Speaking of culinary arts, a great way to preserve all that fresh basil you grew this summer is to make a pesto.  If you don’t have a food processor, just mince (with a knife) or grind (in a mortar and pestle) the basil and pine nuts as finely as possible before adding them to the remaining ingredients; you’ll get the same flavor but a different consistency. 

Makes about 1 cup

2 packed cups of fresh basil

1 clove garlic

¼ cup pine nuts

½ cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese

¼ teaspoon coarse salt

8 turns freshly cracked black pepper

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Add the first six ingredients to a food processor and pulse to a fine chop.

Add olive oil and blend again until fully combined and smooth.

Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.

 If you are freezing the pesto for later use, transfer pesto to an airtight container or ice cube tray, top with extra olive oil, cover and freeze.  Thaw frozen pesto at room temperature on the countertop.