Hey everyone!  Sorry it has been so long since I have written  – life has has held me hostage.  However, on the brights side Drew and I made a great meal last Sunday and here I am to share it with you! Drew has been studying non stop for his CPA exam lately, so we wanted to make a meal that was nice and fast, but packed with flavor.  We decided to go with pesto, it took less than ten minutes to make.

Traditionally pesto is made with pine nuts, but holy cow are they expensive!  I went to the store and they were $23 a pound, so no Pine Nuts for us, but almonds served as the perfect substitute.  I have recently started making changes in my diet in order to make healthier, more informed decisions about the food I put in my body, and eating less meat is one of those changes.  Almonds were a great way to replace chicken while still keeping a great source of protein in the dish, plus they gave the pesto a hint of sweetness with the spiciness of the basil.

This pesto was so great, and made for fantastic leftovers the next day!  Want the recipe?  You don’t even have to ask…

1/2 cup of skinless almonds, slivered

1/2 cup of freshly grated parmasean cheese

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic gloves

1-2 cups of fresh basil

salt and pepper

Toast the almonds for about a minute, but make sure not to burn them.  After that, put them in a food processor and pulse it to chop them up a bit before adding the rest of the ingredients.  Afterwards add the olive oil, garlic and basil.  I would suggest adding a little less basil at first and then adding more until you reach your desired level.  Blend until smooth put in another bowl and add the parmesan, salt, and pepper to taste.  Add to pasta and serve up!

Make sure to keep the extras, they will be fantastic left overs – I know those are always my favorites.