Pesto

I have a basil plant on my deck and I have picked the poor thing nearly bald because I have been making pesto from it recently.  I've used the pesto in chicken pesto pizza and for pasta (which I also put chicken in). I purchased a bag of pine nuts (or pignoli nuts as my mother likes to call them) from the grocery store some time ago and store it in the freezer. According to Alton Brown, the oils in nuts make them go bad, so if you store them in the freezer you can keep them longer.

Pesto

1 c. freshly picked and washed basil leaves
1/4 c. pine nuts
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

I added all ingredients except for the olive oil into my food processor. After pulsing the ingredients together, slowly add the olive oil to the mixture until it reaches the appropriate consistency. For added zing, I also have put crushed red pepper flakes in.