We decided to make a basil pesto out of the remaining basil from my CSA delivery.  I never really follow a recipe for pesto and never worry about having pine nuts – I find them to be expensive and I always manage to burn them when I try to “toast lightly”.  I always have raw almonds in the pantry, and that is what I used for this recipe.

Ingredients

• a bunch of fresh basil
• 1/3 cup almonds
• 3 small cloves of garlic (I get my garlic from my CSA and even the smallest clove packs a big punch)
• 1 serrano chili
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil added while running the food processor until it is no longer dry

I picked up a package of Pasta Etc.’s vegan spinach fettuccine from Whole Foods to serve with the pesto.  I really enjoyed cooking with this fettuccine because it did not easily overcook, which I generally find to be a problem with fresh vegan pastas.

We also made a fresh caprese salad using the Black Prince tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella and some olive oil.  I love how fresh this salad always tastes, especially with the lightness of the fresh cheese.  One of these days, I’ll attempt making my own fresh mozza, but for now, a quick trip to Whole Foods always does the trick.  One of the best things about this salad was using the leftovers on some italian bread for breakfast the next morning – put it all in the toaster oven until it melted together and it was divine!