Combine everything in your blender or food processor. Mix until smooth. Scrape sides with a spatula to help combine. Makes 2 cups.

Menu suggestion: Core and hollow ripe cherry tomatoes. Fill each with Pesto and top with a toasted pine nut.

Make Pesto in the summer when basil is fresh and in abundance in your garen or at the Farmers' market. Make some to enjoy immediately, but also put some away for later. Pesto freezes beautifully!

Prepare and freeze without the nuts and cheese; add them after thawing. Or, freeze it ready-to-use, in small amounts, according to how much you use at a time. Pesto will keep for serveral weeks refrigerated in a tightly covered glass jar with thin layer of vegetable oil on the surface. We use Pesto in our Pesto Pasta and Cafe Pizza. It's also delicious as a sauce for hot pasta (just toss together) or as a spread on sandwiches and crusty french bread.

from Cafe Croissant, 215 Sw 5th Street, Corvallis, Oregon. Cooking at the