Recipe Corner: Pesto

By Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
Submitted by Mary Bailey

This recipe is a great way to use up basil from your herb garden. It yields about 2 half-pint containers.

Pesto

• 1 cup pine nuts
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves, firmly packed
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Spread pine nuts on a baking sheet and bake at 450F until lightly browned. Puree toasted pine nuts, basil, and garlic using a food processor or blender until smooth. Add Parmesan cheese, processing just to blend. Add 1 cup olive oil through feed tube of food processor or lid of blender in a slow, steady stream while machine is running. Pour pesto into plastic freezer jars or plastic freezer containers, leaving about 1/2-inch headspace. Drizzle 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil over top of pesto. Seal, label and freeze.