Remem­ber — you have until Fri­day to leave a com­ment on Tuesday’s post to win a free down­load of Sharon Hamilton’s book.

This is part one of a two-part recipe. Pesto has many, many uses, and neigh­bor Sue Prescott brought a won­der­ful appe­tizer fea­tur­ing pesto to a neigh­bor­hood pot luck. This week, I’ll share her pesto recipe, and next week I’ll have her recipe for Pesto Party Squares.

BASIL PESTO — Serves 4

Ingre­di­ents:
1 ½    cup    Fresh Basil
2    tsp      Gar­lic — chopped
2    tbsp     Pine Nuts
¼    cup     Grated Parme­san Cheese
¼    cup     Olive Oil

Instruc­tions:
Place basil, gar­lic, pine nuts and cheese in a food proces­sor and process until finely chopped.  With it run­ning, slowly add the olive oil. If you make it with­out the cheese, you can freeze it.  Let thaw and stir in the cheese.

Recipe Notes from Sue:
I use pesto (this recipe or store-bought) on pasta (espe­cially ravi­oli) with spinach, with strips of bell pep­per over pasta, in “Ital­ian” ham­burg­ers spread on the buns, mixed with sour cream for a dip,…  Pesto can be used so many ways.