New Taste Thinking: This is a reasonable pesto for two reasons. First, the amount of fat, as in the olive oil, cheese and nuts, is kept to a minimum while still producing a delicious version of the typical pesto recipe. The other reasonable aspect to the recipe is that the pine nuts have been replaced with toasted sunflower seeds. The seeds are 1/10 the price of the nuts, making the cost of the recipe reasonable as well.
Ingredients:
2 Cloves Garlic 2 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese 2 Tbsp. Toasted Sunflower Seeds 4 Tbsp. Olive Oil 1 Cup Basil Leaves 1/4 tsp. Salt 1/4 tsp. Coarse Ground Black Pepper
Peel garlic; these are big fat and beautiful.
Measure cheese and seeds.
Pack a one cup measure with basil leaves.
Press the leaves tightly into the cup.
Place garlic into a food processor.
Run the machine for a few seconds.
Garlic will chop nicely all by itself.
Stop the machine.
Next, add all other ingredients to the processor.
Run the machine for about ten seconds.
Ingredients will blend together to make the pesto.
No need to over chop, a little chunky is fine.
Remove from processor and use as needed.
Note: This is a thicker pesto because it has about half the amount of olive oil as the typical recipe. If you are going to serve this pesto with pasta you can thin it out with a little stock or pasta water as you toss.
