Pesto!

Alright seriously this was cool. Did you know how much there is to learn about pesto? WOW!

So, I research everything I cook and try to find the most amazing authentic awesome recipes. I did a lot of digging on this one and there are soooo many different variations! Well, after all my searching I deducted that I wanted to go the super authentic route. I didn't really use a specific recipe I did a lot of it by taste and look and I combined the ideas from recipes I read. I decided to use a pestle.

Pesto

You will need:

Pine nuts
Fresh basil (the smallest freshest leaves possible)
Olive oil
Garlic
Salt
Parmesan cheese

Now, I have done this twice and before I do it again I will be getting a larger pestle.

First you will need a large bunch of basil. Pick all of the leaves off and if there is a large vein running through the leaf pull the leaf off around it. wash all your leaves and lay them out on a towel to air dry.
while you are waiting I would slightly toast your pine nuts to give them some extra flavor (you can also use walnuts). You want to use about a handful of pine nuts and just dry roast them in a small pan. (set aside to cool)
Next roughly Chop up two to three cloves of garlic depending on taste (this makes it easier to crush in the pestle)
here comes the fun part...lol...toss the pine nuts and garlic in to the pestle and begin crushing.
after that's pretty smashed up add in some leaves. little by little keep adding the leaves until you have added them all.
Make sure to taste is every now and then to make sure you like the flavor (it's a super concentrated taste so be objective to that fact.)
After you have all the leaves in add the cheese (you can use just the shredded stuff in a can but I'd recommend getting the good stuff) use about a 1/2 cup and put in a few pinches of salt (i prefer sea salt)
then add the olive oil.

tips:
This can all be done with a food processor if you prefer however, DO NOT use extra virgin olive oil it does something funny to it and can ruin the taste.

You can also just chop everything very fine.

(with these other methods it's still good it just doesn't taste quite the same.)