Pesto Sauce

Pesto Sauce

Homemade pesto sauce tastes worlds apart from store-bought ones. And it is not difficult to make as well, though it requires some tasting and adjustments. 

For the basil leaves, you can try getting them from NTUC Fairprice Finest, which sells 30g for only $1.55.  So far this is the cheapest I could find (other than growing it yourself); other places, including NTUC Fairprice Xtra, were selling it for up to $3.55 or so for 30g.

If you find pine nuts too expensive (which they really are!), almonds can serve as a good substitute as well.

Ingredients:

90g basil leaves

⅓ cup of pine nuts or almonds

0.25 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1) This step is optional - you can toast the nuts for a short while, maybe around 2 to 3 minutes. 

2) Now add everything into a blender, except for the olive oil. Add just half of it. 

3) Blend it while adding in the rest of the olive oil slowly, until mixture is smooth. 

4) This step is very important - taste. Then adjust it accordingly, with either more parmesan cheese, salt or olive oil.