Recipe: Macadamia Pesto Sauce

I've had a few people asking for my recipes lately, so in a fit of hubris I decided I'd put them up on my blog for all (lol, all three people who read this) to see.

I've had a go at indoor gardening along a sunny window in our apartment recently. My basil has done quite well, despite the efforts of some eff'ing aphids, so I have been making delicious pesto sauce. Pesto is phenomenally easy to make, and most recipes are pretty simple. However, as much as I like pine nuts in Pesto Sauce, they always seem to be a pain. Either, I don't have them on hand, or they've gone off. Plus I've had some pine nuts that are just yucky, even when fresh, though so far I have avoided "Pine Nut Syndrome". I think that Pesto does need a "nutty" undertone to really make it tasty, but I thought to myself, "why does it have to be pine nuts"? I happened to have some macadamia nut butter on hand, so I gave that a try. It made it lovely and rich. If you want some crunch to your pesto then I recommend throwing in a handful of macadamia nuts as well.

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil, 2-3 tablespoons
• 2 Cloves of garlic, minced
• Approx. 2 Cups fresh basil
• 1 or 2 sprigs of fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons of macadamia nut butter
• juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese, depending on how cheesy you want it
• salt & pepper to taste
• 10-15 macadamia nuts *optional

Basically you just throw all the ingredients in together in a food processor and blend until smooth. If adding macadamia nuts, I recommend blending everything else until smooth, and then throwing the nuts in at the end and just give them a little blend to preserve their crunchiness.

Pesto is great on all sorts of pasta, you just need to add a couple of tablespoons of pesto per plate of cooked pasta. You don't even need to heat the pesto, it will just absorb the heat of the pasta. Pesto is also great a spread for bruscetta. Just spread pesto sauce on nice french bread, and cover with chopped, ripe tomatoes that have been coated in balsamic vinegar.

Pesto is pretty calorie and fat dense, but as you only need a little bit for a whole meal, it's fine in moderation. Also, both macadamia nut oil and olive oil are two of the healthiest oils you can eat, as both are composed of monounsaturated fats.

Let me know what people think!