Sundried-Tomato and Basil Pesto

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2-3 sprigs of fresh basil, leaves picked
4-5 halves of sun-dried tomatoes (in oil), drained
2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
1 c. Parmesan cheese
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Salt & Pepper

Coarsely chop the basil leaves, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic.  Pulse in a food processor until the ingredients are minced.  If the ingredients stick to the side of the food processor, add a little bit of olive oil, stir it up and pulse again.

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Turn the minced ingredients into a bowl.  Add half of the Parmesan cheese and stir.

Add olive oil to bind the ingredients together.  The oil in your pesto should ooze a little bit.

Do a taste test here.  Add more cheese and olive oil until you get the flavour right.  You can also add salt and pepper to taste.

Finally, squeeze a little bit of fresh lemon juice into the pesto and stir.

My comments:

Mmmmm...this was one delicious pesto!! Easy to make but with amazing result. The thing about this recipe is that it is only a guideline. You can add more or less of any one of the ingredients to suit your tastebuds.

Usage: I made a delicious pasta salad by tossing together a little bit of pesto with cooked spicy Italian sausage and macaroni. This yummy dish made my coworkers drooled at our lunch table. It was that good!! You can omit the sausages and substitute your favourite vegetable to turn this into a vegetarian meal. Although I haven't tried, I'm sure this pesto will be tastey on a pizza or bruschetta.

One caution note - 2 cloves of garlic is STRONG! You can probably ward off vampires with your after-lunch-breath. I suggest you start off with only 1 clove, do a taste test before throwing in the second clove. And remember to brush your teeth, use mouthwash and eat strong mints after your pesto meal.

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