What do you do when your attempt at growing tomatoes is kind of a bust, but you are a master at basil growth?? Well, bring on the pesto! This Basil Pesto with lemon – love this added twist of lemon – was super for our supper. For the chicken, I pounded out some breasts (only three, because my oldest is now off at college … sniff 😢), sprinkled garlic on it, then spread pesto, then slices of tomatoes and then mozzarella. Baked it at 400 for 30
Minutes. Served it over pesto angel hair; yum!
INGREDIENTS
2 cups fresh basil leaves (packed into measuring cup)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (choose a a flavorful olive oil for pesto)
1/2 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Wash basil leaves if needed and spin dry or dry with paper towels.
Put basil leaves and sliced garlic into food processor that’s been fitted with the steel blade and process until basil and garlic is finely chopped, adding oil through the feed tube as you process.
Add pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice to the chopped basil mixture and process 1-2 minutes more, until the pesto is mostly pureed and well mixed.
Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper and pulse a few times more.
Store basil pesto in the refrigerator in a glass jar, where it will keep for more than a week.