My mother (Judy) and I made 4 batches of Pesto recently…

it sounds like a lot, but in reality, it truly doesn’t make much. And it took nearly 3 hours. So with that being said, once you have committed to making this pesto, hold this sacred goodness close to your heart and only depart with it to those whom you truly love & believe deserve it…..you’ll see why.

It is also EXTREMELY important to inspect, soak, wash, & rinse your basil leaves very thoroughly. Especially if you grew your own basil like we did. The great outdoors is great indeed, but look carefully for lil wormies, (yup) moth shit (its white) and for brown spots on your basil leaves. All these things could obviously make you sick, but also cause your pesto to turn watery & rancid if the leaves are in any way already rotting – such a damn waste of time & just downright nasty.

This recipe is fun to do with a girlfriend or two – wine would also make it WAY more fun, but we did this during the afternoon on a weekday so, no wine — booooo. Divvy up the tasks and this recipe will FLY BY and is still easy enough to give everyone an idea of the steps and what’s going on once all the ingredients finally come together!

Instructions

· Thoroughly inspect your basil leaves, tearing each individual leaf off each stem – soak thoroughly in cold water (we plugged the sink)

· While your basil leaves soak, rinse your parsley and tear off the leaves off the stem as well (this doesn’t have to be as exact as the basil)

· Place your parsley leaves into the salad spinner & give it a whirl! – if your leaves are not completely dry, they will stick together in the food processor and make it difficult AS HELL to chop evenly.

· Lay your freshly spun parsley leaves onto the dish towels, blot extra-dry & set aside.

· After your basil has soaked, give it a good rinse (we used a colander) and repeat the same steps in the salad spinner and laying them out on another dish towel.

· Using the Cheese Grater, grate 1/2 cup of fresh Parmesan Cheese (the larger grate-hole is just fine) and set aside.

· Using the Chopper, chop & measure your choice of nuts until you have reached 1/3 cups worth chopped and set aside.

· Using your Food Processor, measure in the basil, 2 cups at a time, pulse, scrape the sides – repeat. Once your basil has gotten down to a decent size, drizzle in about ¼ cup Olive Oil, pulse again – add in the 2 cups of parsley, drizzle ¼ cup olive oil & continue to pulse.

· Add in your parmesan cheese & garlic – pulse, pulse. Add ¼ cup olive oil -- pulse, pulse.

DO YOU GET THE DAMN DRIFT? ;)

· As you continue to pulse, drizzle in ¼ cup more olive oil and watch the consistency. Stop pulsing & check the progress every 15 seconds or so.

· Once these ingredients have formed a cohesive look, empty the contents from the food processor into a large mixing bowl – be sure to scrape allllll the goodness off the sides with your spatula.

· Drizzle more olive oil in, add the 1/3 cup of the chopped nuts of your choice, add in your S+P, mix together – check the consistency. Is it dry? – add ¼ cup more olive oil. Is it thick or chunky? – add ¼ cup more olive oil. Is it swimming in olive oil? – well, ok then shit, stop.

*** YOU CAN ALSO TASTE THIS RECIPE AS YOU GO IF YOU WISH – NO INGREDIENTS NEED TO BE COOKED! ***

· Now carefully empty your pesto into your mason jars – fill ¾ full and gently “settle” each of your jars (you can either softly pound the bottom of the jar on the heel of your hand or take a knife and poke holes straight down to help even out the pesto) – once your jars are ¾ full and even on top, slowly drizzle more olive oil to “seal” your pesto – so it won’t dry out AND now its ready for the freezer should you choose to freeze it!