Lonely Basil - Basil & Almond Pesto

It is always the case with Basil. I buy it to use a bit in one recipe, and then tend to forget the sad little bunch wasting away in the fridge after having used only a few leaves. This is why I'm carefully tending my own small pot of basil, hopefully to use only what I need this summer. So far this tiny little pot has been giving me a run for my money. I've never claimed to have a green thumb, and tend to be quite suspicious of any living green type thing that enters my apartment, but as of yet, I have only almost killed it once! And that was due only to an abnormal heat wave in April! So you see, I really can't take all the credit, and after shriveling sadly in the heat it came back quite nicely in a cold water bath. Success! As you can see, it's still too small for culinary use, and so, until my plant has sprouted the proper amount, I buy my basil, and do my best to not forget about it...

Small but (soon to be) mighty!

And then I open the fridge a few days later, and there it is. The store-bought basil, looking so forlorn and alone on the shelf. Pesto came to mind, but I was out of pine nuts. And so, I decided to experiment. Pesto with almonds! It turned out quite well, if I do say so, and I've been scooping it onto pasta with a bit of goat cheese and lemon. Delicious!




About 20 raw, unsalted almonds
1 bunch basil
a few glugs of good olive oil, enough to make the mixture wet.
1 large clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

I look for any excuse to use my hand blender, which worked perfectly for this recipe. So much easier than a regular blender, or lugging out the food processor. Throw all the ingredients together, plunge in the hand blender and blend until well mixed! Taste for salt, add as needed.