Pesto please

I have to admit, up until about three years ago, I was never a fan of pesto. To me, it looked like clippings out of the lawnmower bag so I assumed it would also have the same flavor as a handful of grass clippings (not that I make a habit of eating grass clippings, but you know what I mean). It just looked "green." I don't remember the first occasion when I tried pesto but I do remember that once I tasted it, I was hooked. I fed my addiction with the different varieties of pesto that you can find in the grocery store and that always seemed good enough to me - until the first time I made my own pesto. After that first bite of homemade pesto, there was just no going back to the other stuff.
And it's just so darned easy to make, why would you ever want to go back to the grocery store version? A handful of fresh basil, some Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil and whirl in the food processor and there you have it - fresh pesto. If you're a pesto purist, you can always make it using the mortar and pestle method, but I prefer the quicker and easier food processor method to whip up some of that 'green goodness.'
Pesto will keep for up to three weeks in the fridge if you store it properly - a thin layer of olive oil on top and tightly capped. It can also be frozen for up to a year. Just pack it in small enough quantities that you can just thaw what you need. If you have a bumper crop of basil in the garden, as I do this year, but not enough time to whip up endless batches of pesto, trying freezing the plain, chopped basil in olive oil in ice cube trays and then store the blocks of frozen basil in plastic bags. Then you can make a batch of fresh pesto in the dead of winter - when those store bought varieties are calling to you from the grocery store shelves.
I found this recipe for classic pesto in a neat little cookbook called "Very Pesto" by Dorothy Rankin.

Ingredients
2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnut halves
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

Combined the basil, garlic, cheese and nuts in the bowl of a food processor. Process to mix. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and process to desired consistency. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Makes about 1 cup.