Pesto! Herbal Harvest Part 1

Started off this morning by cutting our basil plants back until I had 2 bowls of leaves for pesto.  Here is the recipe I used (3 times!):

• 6 cups (firmly packed) basil leaves (cleaned and dried - I used a salad spinner)
• 1.5 cups of walnuts
• 1.5 cups Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 8 cloves of garlic (mine were rather large, so I cut them into 1/2 inch cubes first)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Put all ingredients into large food processor and pulse first, then run on low until mixture is nearly smooth.  We used our vacuum sealer, made small bags, and scooped about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of pesto into each prepared bag and then sealed and froze them. 

For lunch we made a quick pasta dish with pesto:  Boil 12 oz of noodles (Fuseli or Bow Ties work nice).  In the meantime, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add 1/2 cup of cream or half&half until hot. Add about 1/4 or more of the prepared pesto and heat through.  Dice up fresh tomatoes.  Drain pasta and make individual bowls - scoop in pasta, add some chopped tomatoes, crumbled feta cheese and cover with pesto cream sauce, mix together and enjoy!