Presto, it's Pesto!

We love Pesto in this house! Today we were out of our favorite jar when I went to make Ella some tortellini for lunch.  I rummaged through the fridge and found some fresh basil, and grated Parmesan.  Besides that I knew there were pine nuts, but I do not have any pine nuts!  So I checked out The Martha Site and found this recipe for Fettuccine with parsley pesto and walnuts and was stoked!  Now, granted I did not have a lot of time, as I had a hungry 18 month old waiting for lunch so I adapted it just a bit for the items I had on hand.

 Tortellini with Walnut Almond Pesto 

Ingredients

Serves 4

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3/4 pound meat tortellini
• 2 cups packed Basil
• 1/4 cup walnuts 1/4 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook tortellini pasta until al dente. 
2. In a food processor, puree basil, walnuts,almonds, Parmesan, garlic, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons water until a paste forms. With machine running, add oil in a thin stream; process until very smooth, about 1 minute. Season pesto with salt and pepper.
3. Serve with tortellini and garnish with basil leaves.

Verdict:  This was so delicious I will never again buy expensive jars of pesto! Soo yummy i can not wait to add it to my home made pizzas tomorrow!  Ella ate the whole plate and then seconds!  2 baby thumbs up!