There is something about cooking with simple, flavourful ingredients that makes any dish taste so good! I loved making my own pesto for that very reason. You can buy pesto in pretty much any grocery store out there but why would you since it is such an easy recipe? Especially if you grow your own basil.

Every year near the end of the summer, I would harvest all of my basil and make some pesto. I would then fill the ice-cube trays with the pesto and freeze it. Once frozen, I would take them out of the trays and put them in a freezer safe bag. I then could have that fresh taste, in perfect portions all winter long! Mmmmm-mmmm!

Now in some of my shopping sprees, I may have purchased a few people a beautifully big silicone ice-cube tray. Aside from using the ice cube trays for fruit infused ice cubes, I may have had this recipe in mind…

Ingredients

• 2 cups of fresh basil
• 1 – 2 Tbsp. of pine nuts, toasted
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese, depending on your taste (I add more)
• ~1/4 cup of olive oil – I never really measured
• fine sea salt, to taste

Instructions

1. If your pine nuts are raw, throw them into a frying pan over medium heat and toast them. ~ 6 – 8 minutes
2. Add basil, toasted pine nuts and parmesan cheese to a food processor or blender. Pulse to combine.
3. Drizzle olive oil into mixture while pulsing until smooth and you reach desired consistency.
4. Season with sea salt

If I’m being honest, sometimes I added 2 cloves of garlic. You decide. I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Happy cooking!