Subj:  Pesto Sauce
From:  LukeSw

This is a very, very simple and tasty recipe.

A zesty, fantastic sauce, pesto (pronounced PAY-sto) comes from Genoa, Italy.  It is
delicious on pasta, and can be used on pizza, in pita bread, and with virtually anything
to add an Italian taste.  This recipe is a combination of a number of recipes for pesto I
have found, and I have tried to refine it.  It is supposed to have pine nuts in it, but since
those are so hard to find, I leave them out, but the sauce still tastes good.  I like this
sauce because it has a wonderful basil taste that gives flair to pasta and it is something
new besides regular tomato sauce.  This sauce should be made with fresh basil (it blends
better and has a better color), but I use dry basil most of the time and it tastes almost as
good.  The garlic is optional; garlic gives the sauce a more distinct taste.

1-1/2 cups fresh basil or 3 tablespoons dried, crushed basil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 clove garlic (optional)

With fresh basil:
Pound basil in a mortar, and add garlic and cheese.  Then, add olive oil slowly until it is
the consistency of creamed butter.

With dry basil:
Grind basil until it becomes a fine powder.  For a better texture, reconstitute basil by
soaking it in the olive oil from 10 minutes to an hour.  Mix in food processor the basil,
olive oil, cheese, and garlic until they are well blended.