Quick and Easy Weeknight Dinner: Pasta with Homemade Pesto

Remember how I said there was finally enough basil from my Aerogarden to make pesto? Well, I did it last night and I have the easy instuctions on how to make your own pesto!

Ingredients:

2 cups basil leaves (I used about 1/2 cup frozen and the rest were freshly picked from the Aerogarden)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup pine nuts (I used walnuts instead!)
Salt and pepper to taste
Whole wheat spaghetti (leftover from the pasta carbonara)

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend:

I added the cheese after blending the basil, garlic, olive oil, and walnuts:

You can also start boiling water for your spaghetti because after you blend the ingredients together, the pesto is done. I moved the pesto into a container because it was definitely too much for me to eat in one sitting:

After the pasta is ready, put some pesto on the bottom of the bowl, drop in the pasta, and then add two more spoonfuls on top of the pasta (also, if you really love parmesan cheese like me, you can add some more after the pesto and pasta have been mixed together):

Cost Breakdown

2 cups basil leaves (I used about 1/2 cup frozen and the rest were freshly picked from the Aerogarden) free
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)$0.25
1/4 cup olive oil $0.25
3 garlic cloves $0.10
1/4 cup pine nuts (I used walnuts instead!) $0.25
Salt and pepper to taste free
Wheat wheat spaghetti (leftover from the pasta carbonara) $0.10

Total: $.95!!! AND I still have some leftover spaghetti AND pesto for another meal!