The Story of the Girl and the Basil Plant

This is a story of a girl who grew a basil plant, not knowing what she was getting into. The plant grew large and had many leaves, and graced her kitchen with a lovely sweet scent.

One day, she looked at the plant and realized she may have gotten into more basil than she bargained for. So what’s a girl to do with all of that basil? Well, pesto, of course!

Garlic and basil getting ready to get together.

Luckily, the girl was an avid cook and had most of the ingredients on hand, and could substitute the others. Also luckily – the minuscule food processor she had “borrowed” from her mom’s kitchen was just big enough to process the pesto. (Note to anyone reading this: I need a food processor like  my car needs gas. The one I have holds a whole, singular cup.)

The girl made up her pesto, and said “This is just right! I shall serve it for dinner, tonight!” She cooked up some noodles (penne and whole wheat fusilli, for it was what she had on hand), strained the water from them, and placed them in a bowl with a lid (tupperware works great, too, but I have these awesome metal bowls with lids that I try to use at every occasion). She scooped some of her lovely green sauce in with the noodles, and gave it a good shake.

Now properly coated in delicious green gold, the noodles were served with rave reviews.

Pesto, aka "Green Gold"

This was a great way to use up some of my crazy basil plant and not spend money on making dinner. I generally have most of the ingredients on hand, and pasta is always a cheap way to go for supper. Sometimes, you just have to be cheap, but cheap never has to be sub-par. I actually find it an interesting challenge to try and feed the two of us with as little money spent as possible.

So, do you want to make some of your own green gold?

Ingredients

• 2 cups basil leaves
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I could have used some more, but I used up what I had left. I’m thinking 1/3 to 1/2 cup would be better)
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup pine nuts (I used walnuts instead, tasted great still)
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Uh, wash basil. Throw everything into your food processor. Process into a paste. Serve. Serving options include: with pasta and Parmesan cheese, on toast/baguette, over baked potatoes, or whatever else you can come up with!

Be frugal with how much you put on your pasta, this is an aggressive little green sauce. If you have any left over, pack it into an ice cube tray and freeze it. Sometimes a little bit of water will help it solidify. Remove it from the tray and put in a plastic baggie. It will keep for a few months.