Pesto

Because Glenda asked, this is what I threw together in the blender:

Grind up
4-5 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of sunflower seeds
a little salt

then add about 3 cups basil leaves
and chop.

Drizzle into blender while running
1/2 cup olive oil
then add
1/4 cup parmesan,
until you have pastey mush.


You're supposed to use pine nuts, not sunflower seeds. But the sunflower seeds worked fine. Online references also suggested substituting cashews for the sunflower seeds. Erin tells me that you can use spinach instead of basil. I tried it a couple of weeks ago with parsley instead of basil, and that was good too.

You can use it as a sandwich spread, instead of mayo, or with mayo. We put some on the pizza last night, under the tomato sauce. Erin said she's made pizza with pesto instead of tomato sauce. It goes lovely-like on pasta!