Pesto Cream Sauce

I'm sorry there won't be any pictures of this but next time I make it I will try to remember to take some pictures.

This sauce is really very simple to make and is delicious to eat.

You start by making pesto or you can buy it if you are into wasting money like that (just kidding, kind of). Go to your local farmer's market and they will probably be selling basil for some absurdly low price like 2 bunches for $1. If you buy this much basil you will have like 3 batches of pesto. Pull the leaves off the basil and put them in your salad spinner. Fill up the bowl and cover the leaves with cold water. Shake off the water and pour it out of the bowl. If you don't have a salad spinner, put the leaves in a strainer and fill your sink with water, then drain the water. Rinse the leaves again and then spin them a few times to get all of the water off.

Now to make pesto, I use a very simple recipe….are you ready for this?

Get out your blender and load it full of basil leaves, pine nuts, and olive oil. Grind. Chop. Mix. Whatever you need to do. Make sure all the pine nuts and basil are chopped up to little tiny pieces. Oh, you want to know how much to use? Hmmm..

I use about 3-4 cups of basil leaves, 1 cup of olive oil, ½ cup of pine nuts and then I added a pinch of garlic and Kosher salt for some flavor. Add more olive oil as you see fit.

So you made your pesto, it is great to put on pizza or pasta or you can freeze it and save it for later.

Now let's say you want some pasta with pesto but you want it to have some depth to it and not just be plain pesto. Here is when you should make the pesto cream sauce!

To make the cream sauce:

You make a simple Bechamel sauce and then add pesto. Easy as 1-2-3.

To make a Bechamel sauce you do the following:

2 Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp Flour

1 ¼ Cups Milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and stir until the flour is dissolved to a paste. You want it to start bubbling but not change colors. This happens pretty quick. Next you add your milk and continue to stir. Let the milk boil. Lower the heat, add your pesto and cook. Stir the sauce for about 2-3 minutes. If you want it to be more like an alfredo sauce with the pesto, add some parmesan cheese. If you want it be cheesier, add some mozzarella cheese. Keep stirring until the cheese is melted. I usually add about ¼ to ½ cups pesto. It will turn a nice shade of green. Don't worry, it will taste so good you can overlook the color. Hope you try this, it is very tasty!