The Realtor's Pesto

There are many versions of this classic and this is mine. I love it over pasta- especially mixed in with my alfredo sauce. It adds a nice flavor to so many dishes. Store bought pesto has become so expensive and it's not nearly as good as this easy, homemade version. Check out my other recipe: Pesto Butter for Vegetables and Pasta.

• Ready In: 10 mins
• Yields: 1 1/4 cup

Ingredients

• 2  cups  tightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 3⁄4 cup olive oil
• 1⁄2 cup  grated romano cheese
• 1⁄2 cup  loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
• 1⁄4 cup pine nuts (I usually use pecans because I always have them around)
• 2 -4  garlic cloves, chopped into chunks

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in food processor bowl and process using metal blade until finely chopped but not mushy.
2. Spoon into jar and cover with a thin layer of olive oil to prevent the mixture from darkening.
3. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours so flavors can blend or up to 2 weeks.
4. To freeze, put tablespoonfuls of the pesto mixture into ice cube trays. freeze and pop them out as needed. I keep the whole ice cube tray in a big ziploc bag to keep the pesto cubes fresh. You could pop them out and store them in the bag without the tray but I've found that they stick together too much.
5. I use about 1/3 of a cup or so per pound of pasta and 1 or 2 cubes per 1lb of roasted or steamed veggies.