Artichoke and Basil Pesto

Here's a delightfully easy pesto recipe (well, all are easy), that is mighty tasty and can be used in a plethora of ways!

For instance, you could shmeer it on some garlic bread.

You could thin it out a bit (just use a bit more olive oil) and use it as a pasta sauce!

Or perhaps you just want to dip some veggies in it?

Or maybe you want to just eat it on a cracker?

What ever you choose, this is so simple and good for you, too.

What you need:

About a cup (two handfuls) of big basil leaves

1 can of artichoke hearts (about 8-9 hearts)

2 cloves of garlic

1/8 cup of pine nuts

1/2 tsp kosher salt

4 tbsp of Parmesan/Romano blend (the stuff in the cannister is fine; ideally you buy a mostly natural- e.g. you can pronounce the ingredients!)

1/8 cup of part skim ricotta cheese

A couple cranks of ground black pepper

1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

How you do it (so easy!):

Take food processor.

Take all ingredients, except for oil, and toss them in the food processor.

Pulse about 10 times until all are well blended together.

Next, with the food processor running, slowly add the tablespoon of oil.

Consistency will be thick, not too runny, such that this is more of a dip or a spread than a sauce.

Now, we froze half of this-so when I get my I want fresh pesto craving- all I have to do is open the freezer door. Plus, it makes a good amount, and there are only two of us!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 tbsp

Amount per Serving

Calories 32

Calories from Fat 20.3

Total Fat 2.25g

Saturated Fat 0.54g

Cholesterol 1.88mg

Sodium 110.83mg

Total Carbohydrate 1.59g

Dietary Fiber 0.47g

Sugars 0.42g

Protein 1.05g