Cilantro Basil Pesto

One of our local farm market stores had a sale on cilantro, two bunches for fifty cents, so I decided to make some pesto. To tone down the cilantro flavor I decided to add some basil. If you don't like cilantro you can substitute flat leaf parsley or perhaps kale or spinach. Although I haven't tried the substitutes.

In my blender I added 1/2 cup of olive oil, 2 cups of cilantro leaves and one cup of basil leaves. I also added one clove of garlic minced and one tablespoon of lemon juice. Don't omit the lemon juice because it helps keep the mixture from turning dark. Pulse your blender till mixture is smooth. If your blender stalls you can drizzle in a little more olive oil. See how bright green it is.

Meanwhile cook your pasta of choice. When the pasta is al dente, drain and put in a bowl and add the pesto and toss. I sprinkled some grated parmesan on the individual servings. Of course it was delicious. I used to get pre-prepared pesto but for some reason the oil in store bought pesto doesn't agree with me. I was going to add 1/4 cup of cashews but Gary informed me he is allergic. He's also allergic to walnuts. I avoided pine nuts because they are so expensive.  The flavor of the pesto didn't seem to suffer without the nuts.

I found this chickpea fusilli pasta which is gluten free to use for the pasta. Chickpea pasta has a better texture than rice pasta. Of course it is more expensive than rice pasta and rice pasta is more expensive than wheat pasta. But what can a gluten free person do? Pasta with texture like fusilli or bow ties is best to aid in the pesto adhering to the pasta. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.