Vegetarian

Basil Pesto 1T per serving takes 30 minutes to prepare.

Basil Pesto 1T per serving takes several minutes to cook.

Basil Pesto 1T per serving makes 16 servings.

The ingredients for Basil Pesto 1T per serving are:

2 cups fresh packed basil leaves (packed means, stuff them into a measure cup and press them down with your hand; it's not a precise measurement)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (if you don't have pine nuts, you can use walnuts or hazelnuts)
3 garlic cloves, finely minced (or 1 tablespoon of prepared minced garlic)
1 tablespoon "fruit fresh" or 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Fruit fresh is available at most grocery stores where canning supplied like pectin and pickling salt are sold. It is basically a form of citric acid and vitamin C, that helps prevent the pesto from turning brown upon exposure to the air.
1/4 cup Olive oil. It should be the "extra virgin" variety, not the ordinary cooking olive oil. If it is extra virgin, it will say that on the label: see the photo for an example of extra virgin (at left) next to cooking olive oil (at right).
Makes about 1 cup or prepared basil Pesto!

Here is how you make Basil Pesto 1T per serving:

Step 1 - Pick the leaves off of the stems.Discard any flower buds, stems or leaves that aren't in good shape. All we want are leaves; small, medium or large; as long as they are a healthy green, not brown or molding!Step 2 - Wash the basil.Just wash them in a large bowl under cold water, no soap! Step 3 - Chop the pine nuts, olive oil and garlic in the food processorStep 4 - Add the basil leaves and olive oil and chopNow start stuffing basil leaves (in small batches) into the food processor and chop them into the garlic, olive oil and pine nuts. Chop the mix until it forms a thick, smooth paste.Step 5 - Blend in the grated Parmesan cheeseNOTE: if you intend to freeze the pesto, leave the cheese OUT and add it when you thaw and use the pesto. Cheese doesn't freeze well.Serving Size:?16-1 Tablespoon per serving

The nutritional information for Basil Pesto 1T per serving is:

• Servings Per Recipe: 16
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 49.6

• Total Fat: 5.1 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 0.3 mg
• Total Carbs: 0.5 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.1 g
• Protein: 0.8 g