My mother-in-law had purchased for me an Aerogarden some years ago. I was so excited to use it and so when I moved to my new home, I set it up. The one herb that grew really well was basil. It is so much fun gathering basil leaves every other day. I immediately put them in a freezer bag and in to the freezer. When ever I am cooking, I toss in a few leaves here and there.
Yesterday, while I was clipping basil, I noticed that the freezer bag was getting too full. What an excellent time to make pesto! I love pesto on sandwiches (instead of mayonnaise) but mainly, I wanted to use this sauce in my Chicken Pesto Pasta dish. I didn’t have time to go to the store but fortunately for me, I had some roasted almonds in my cupboard. So I went to work.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup of blanched almonds *See Note*
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
2-3 tablespoons of garlic (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)
2 cups of fresh basil leaves
Directions:
- Place blanched almonds in blender and add enough olive oil, so that almonds become a paste.
- Add remaining ingredients and blend (If you need to add more olive oil, do so)
- Adjust seasoning, blend
Spread on your favorite sandwiches or pasta (or any other thing you can think of)
*NOTE*
Blanching almonds is just a fancy way of saying almonds with skins off. To remove skins from almonds, heat up water and soak almonds for 2-3 minutes. By this time, the skins can be easily peeled off by your fingers. After you remove all the skins, lay the almonds flat on a towel to dry.
Almond Pesto
Samina Cooks 