I absolutely love fresh, homemade pesto.

This week, I’m staying at my aunt and uncle’s river house. Every year since I can remember, my family has taken a summer vacation to the beach during the first month of August (which is coincidentally my youngest sister’s birthday week). That was, until my aunt and uncle purchased a river house a few years ago and graciously suggested we host “beach week” at their house.

You can never go wrong with the river. And add on a flourishing garden, two golden retrievers, and all the cupcakes you could ever eat (like I said, it’s my sister’s birthday week), this place is the BEST.

As you can probably guess, one of my favorite things about their house is the garden. Imagine this: hundreds (am I exaggerating? Surprisingly, no!) of delicious, ripe fruits and veggies just ready to eat, cook with, and enjoy, right at your fingertips. Heaven? YES.

Today my uncle brought in a bushel of basil from the garden and proceeded to take out the ingredients necessary to make Pesto. Since the only Pesto I’ve ever experienced is from a jar at Costco, I was curious to see how his homemade version compared. I was immediately taken aback by just how quickly and easily he was able to whip up a batch of fresh pesto! It seemed like all he did was throw a few ingredients in a food processor, and less than 5 minutes later we had the most fragrant and delicious pesto I’ve ever eaten.

This recipe for pesto has become one of my uncle’s famous summer recipes. It’s extremely simple and delicious, as well as completely versatile. It’s so good that it can easily stand alone as an appetizer, simply with a side of crackers. Or serve it fresh made over pasta at a dinner party and you’ll get complements left and right! Or, if you’re like me and would rather not spend hours preparing dinner, eat it over pasta and stick any leftovers in the fridge for a quick future meal.

This pesto puts the store-bought one to shame. In fact, when my grandmother asked what I thought of it I exclaimed:

“This pesto is the besto!” 😉

Fresh Summer Pesto

• 1/2 c (2 oz) pine nuts
• heaping 1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 5 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• about 2 1/2 c basil

Add pine nuts and parmesan to food processor and pulse for 10 seconds. Add garlic and pulse again, for another 10 seconds. Pour in extra virgin olive oil and toss in half the basil. Process for 15 seconds, then add remaining basil. Process until smooth, about 4 minutes.

Nutrition Information (from myfitnesspal.com)

Calories: 135

Fat: 14g

Carbs: 1g

Protein: 4g

(Yields 8 servings)

One batch of pesto yields enough for 1lb of pasta, or 8 servings.