wholefood

Pesto is a sauce originating in Genoa, Italy. Traditionally, it consists of crushed garlic, pine nuts, course salt, basil leaves and hard cheese. My version is simple and clean and easy to make. I experimented on using different types of nuts, different cheeses and even different types of basil.

My brother recently suggested to me that I can use my slow masticating juicer. I was surprised by the texture of my pesto. It brought my sauce into a different level.

I also make pesto using my classic Mortar and Pestle and sometimes even my blender but my favorite way to make it is using my food processor.

My children are my food critic. They tell me which type of pesto version they like the most. Today, I will share to you the best version of pesto my children like the most. This recipe will be using a food processor but if you don’t have one, feel free to use whatever you have at home.

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. Organic Fresh Basil (washed and leaves removed)
3-5 cloves of Garlic
1/4-1/2 tsp. of course Sea Salt
1/4 cup of roasted Pine Nuts
1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 lemon (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Put the garlic, pine nuts and salt in the food processor then process into a smooth paste. Add the basil, a handful at a time and continue processing. Drizzle olive oil while the food processor is running at low speed and process until smooth. Stir in the grated parmesan cheese.

We love our pesto garlicky so I put more garlic than our normal recipe. Without the garlicky taste, it’s a no-no for my kids. I sometimes add a little bit of lemon juice to add a little character to my sauce.

This recipe is my children’s go-to. They eat it with their pasta, their morning toast, top it on their pizza, dip for their baby carrots and even spread for their lunch wraps. You can freeze your extra sauce in a jar and it can stay fresh for up to 3 months but I am not so sure you will do that since this pesto will be gone before you know it 🙂

I hope you like my recipe. Please click the Like button below if you did. Thanks for visiting my blog.

One of my favorite things to do with my family is going on a weekend Farmer’s market trip either locally or wherever we may be (when we are on a trip). I enjoy looking at each stall showcasing their handcrafted products or organically grown produce and/or plants.

We take time walking and enjoying all the “free-taste” offered by each seller. My kids get to taste the products and naturally, they ask us to buy more for them to consume on other days. While we look around what’s available during the season, my husband and I get to plan what we want to cook together, weekday meal plans for the family and the entire weeks’ school and/or work lunch ideas.

Because going to the Farmer’s Market is more economical and healthy, we get to enjoy our food budget with freedom to purchase what is needed and wanted, making our weekend mornings an enjoyable family errand, street food, food exploration day.

One might say, it’s still expensive to go to a Farmer’s Market because only organically grown produce are available and these products are pricier than produce sold by bulk at big supermarkets. Well, I learned from my own personal experience that buying all kinds of meat products and stocking processed food is the main reason why my food budget is exhausted easily. When my family eats fresh and healthy fruits and vegetables, minimize our consumption of meat products and a lot of those “boxed goodies”, we have more spending money left to buy these all-natural foodstuff.

Enjoy the photos I took and imagine yourself at a Farmer’s Market.

For more information about Orange County Certified Farmer’s Market, just like the link. Photos below were taken at the Saturday Irvine Farmer Market located at the Mariner’s Church parking lot.