FEC Pesto

I have another FEC meal!  Today was LONG.... School starts tomorrow and I am overwhelmed.  I got to work at 7:25 and got home at 5:10.... it was a very long day, complete with breaking down into tears over a very frustrating set of computer wires that took an hour to de-tangle.  Whew!
   When I got home, it had just stopped raining and the basil that I have growing in my backyard smelled a.maz.ing.   I decided right when I smelled that sweet, wonderful basil that I was making pesto in some way for dinner tonight. I always have at least one basil plant growing, but during the summer I grown tons of the stuff!  Right now, I have little mini basil plants growing wild all over my backyard.  Basil is one of those things that can be expensive if you buy just a bag of the leaves (and it doesn't last long either), but if you buy a plant it ends up saving tons of money.  Right now, Publix has their live herb plants at 2 for 4 dollars.  Two bucks for something that will continue to reproduce over and over again, yes please!!

 Pesto is super simple to make, and its pretty dang cheap, too! (and it's about 2 WW points for 1/4 cup of the recipe!)
You'll need:
20ish basil leaves
1/4 cup EVOO
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
a couple of pinches of salt
1 1/2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic (or less if you don't like garlic as much as I do!)
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or pistachios-- I like using pistachios because I think it gives the pesto more flavor, but pine nuts are traditional.  * Keep your pine nuts in the freezer! They last forever that way!*

Put everything in a food processor and then blend until it becomes a paste-like consistency.  Taste and add ingredients as needed.  Sometimes depending on your Parm, you'll need more salt.  If you think your pesto is a little too salty, add a little EVOO and a couple of basil leaves.    I don't really measure anything when I make pesto, I just eyeball it! It is so easy to fix, there's no problem!  This recipe makes about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup. Easy, right!?!

I just toss the pesto with hot pasta and serve with sauteed shrimp!  YUM!  This whole meal can be made in the time it takes to cook the pasta-- 8-10 minutes!  Fast! Just process the pesto and saute the shrimp with salt, pepper, and garlic powder for about two minutes on each side while the pasta is boiling!

Cheap, too! 1/2 a lb of shrimp costs about 4 bucks, the pasta I bought (and use three separate times!) for 79 cent as a BOGO at Publix, the Pesto can be made for about a buck if you take into account how many times you can use the ingredients that you buy for the pesto (especially if you buy a basil plant!)

*****Just a warning! The pine nuts are kind of expensive, BUT I have had the same container of pine nuts in my freezer for like 6 months.  And, I make pesto a lot!****

Look at all that stuff!! The basil has gotten SO big this year!  I have another pot of it in another container too!

Look at that wild growing stuff!! (along with all the weeds! lol!)

Go make some pesto! It's really good!!