Basil Almond Pesto

We have an abundance of basil.


So I made Basil Almond Pesto. I would normally use pine nuts, walnuts or pecans in a basil pesto, but Joseph prefers almonds, so I made this just for him. It turned out to be delicious. I made creamy pesto penne with baked chicken and cherry tomatoes for dinner tonight, which was lovely. I made a large batch of pesto so I'd be able to use the left over to make pesto mayo for chicken foccacia sandwiches for lunch tomorrow.

Basil Almond Pesto
In food processor:
2 large handfulls of fresh basil leaves
5 cloves garlic
1/4 c toasted almonds (pieces, slices, whatever)
2 T grated parmesan
zest & juice of one lemon
Pulse until it all comes together.
Slowly add 1/4 - 1/3 c olive oil.
Blend until smooth. Salt & pepper to taste.

I used pasta cooking water & milk to dilute the pesto, before mixing cooked mini penne pasta and 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes. Sliced baked chicken breast on top. Yum. No pics of dinner, sorry.

I did some baking tonight also. First I made banana pecan muffins. I used whole wheat flour and replaced flax seed for some of the oil. They turned out well, very moist and fluffy, but very filling. Definitely a breakfast muffin. I froze half the batch to be enjoyed later on.




I thought the banana muffins were so good that I also made cheddar muffins. I froze 6 of those too. We had the cheddar muffins with dinner. I happy with how much use I am getting out of our big freezer. It was a good investment.