Ball Blue Book Basil Pesto

This upcoming weekend looks like tons of fun.  I’ll be enjoying my last long run before the much anticipated Air Force Marathon on September 15th (hoping for perfect weather and a nice, easy run).  Saturday we celebrate a wedding with our friends.  YAY!  You know how I just love weddings.  I have a really cute dress for it as well. Then it’s lots of play time with the pups.  It’s nice to be home on weekends, enjoying the weather and tossing the ball for Zoey and Shane.

One other little item of fun for us this weekend will be to pull in more basil and parsley. It’s growing great guns and I just love figuring out ways to use it.  Here is one recipe for the basil, found in my Ball Blue Book. It’s a robust pesto and great for casseroles or even on a cracker (which is what I kept doing…couldn’t stop!), or crudité.

I used a recipe from the Ball Blue Book to make homemade basil pesto.  Our garden was being over come with basil so something had to be done. 

The best part about using so much basil to make the pesto is that we could freeze it. That’s right. I used the Ball Freezer Jar.  The freezer jar is BPA free as well as being dishwasher/freezer safe. 

The recipe yields two Ball 16 oz. Freeze Jars of Pesto. *You’ll want more.

• 1 cup pine nuts *Toast in the oven at 450 F until they begin to brown.
• 4 cups, packed fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil PLUS 1 TBS

Preheat oven to 450 F and spread the pine nuts in a single layer over a baking sheet to toast until brown.

Puree the nuts, basil and garlic until smooth.  Add the cheese until smooth.  Drizzle in the 1 cup of oil and process until smooth and blended.

What difference between homemade pesto and the jars from the grocery store! There is NO comparison.

Pour into the Ball jars, leaving 1/2 inch of space. Drizzle 1 1/2 tsp. of oil on the top of the pesto, seal and freeze.

*Make sure to save 1/2 a cup for an up coming tuna casserole recipe (to die for!).