Long ago in NYC I used eat lunch at a diner in little italy that had the best pesto ever. Here's my version of that... no pine nuts and slightly braised. You have to grow your own basil to do this right, basil is a cinch to grow in little borders and will even help keep bugs away, grows fast too, likes moderate water but not too much or the taste won't be as hefty. full sun. I like to mix basils, sweet with cinnamon or lemon.

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Pick a big bunch of basil, use a little food processor to chop the leaves fine, about 1-2 cups.

Chop about 6-8 cloves of garlic in the food processor.

Put about 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil into the saucepan with the chopped garlic, and warm slightly but do not fry. Just warm it enough to get the garlic to release some flavor into the oil. Remove from heat. You can add a tablespoon of butter to this if you like.

Add the chopped basil, return to stove and warm again, just slighty to get the basil to release some flavor into the oil.. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle with a little lemon juice, about 10-12 drops.

add a tad of salt.

Heap that on top of your favorite pasta, sprinkle with some parmesan cheese. Voila! really good for you and tastes exactly like the little italy pesto I have never forgotten.

makes 2-3 servings.

Health food nuts... You can add some chopped fresh cilantro on top for a chelate effect if you'd like, tastes great with the basil, and substitute the cheese with nutritional yeast. Consider sprinkling in a bit of wheat germ to make up for lost grain in the pasta. Sprinkle with flax seed and voila again!

I do like to drink a big glass of milk with that.

I think I can eat that everyday, it's one of my favorite foods ever. Basil for pesto is the impetus for all of my gardening efforts. You need about 20-30 plants for an ongoing summer's supply of pesto for 2 or 3 people.