Pesto Pasta

This is something I eat at least once a week, but I usually cheat and buy the dried pesto packets at the grocery store and just add cheese and olive oil. For the first time in years I am growing basil at home this summer, and today it was finally ready to eat.

When growing basil at home, there are a few rules. It is important to not let the plants flower, because this changes the flavor of the basil. If flower buds do appear, cut them off before they bloom and cut the plants back so they do not bloom again. This is a great time to make pesto. Never cut off more than half of a basil plant, or you risk killing the plant.

My basil grew like crazy these last few weeks, and all of sudden the plants were threatening to bloom. Today, I pruned all the basil plants back to about 50 to 60% and made pesto pasta with the abundance of fresh basil I had cut.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fresh basil, packed down
1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (I prefer Romano)
4 T olive oil
1/2 t pepper
3-4 cloves garlic

1/2 lb pasta (usually half a box)

Combine all ingredients (except pasta) in food processor and puree until smooth,. Use a spatula to scrape sides, making sure all ingredients get pureed. This makes about 3/4 cup of pesto.

Cook pasta according to directions on box. Mix pesto with hot pasta. Serve garnished with more grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.