Garlic Basil Pesto

Photo: hhislandgirl

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups fresh Basil Leaves

1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

6 cloves of peeled garlic

1/4 cup raw, organic sunflower seeds

cup first cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

1/4 cup of honey, or what suits your taste

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

In a food processor with a metal blade, chop the basil leaves. Add the cheese, garlic, sunflower seeds and lemon juice and blend again. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil and honey and process 'til well mixed. You may have to stop and scrape the sides with a rubber spatula a time or two to get it to blend really well.

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About

The "real recipe" calls for pine nuts instead of sunflower seeds, but I think pine nuts are just too darned expensive, so I sub in the sunflower seeds. You could very well try it with walnuts, as well.

As far as the number of garlic cloves, again go by your taste, but the more your palate can take, the better, as far as health benefits go.
I put honey in my Pesto as it seems to cut the strong taste of the garlic, allowing me to add more cloves, and it does sweeten the flavor a bit.
I use my pesto with whole wheat pasta and veggies, spread it on a whole wheat tortilla when I make a veggie wrap, and I smear it on my Thomas Light Whole Wheat, or Multi-Grain English muffins. Sometimes I put some goat cheese on the English muffin as well (okay, sounds weird - but is pretty darn tasty!)