If you’ve been following along on my Instagram, you know we are all about the garden right now! With summer properly here, we are up to our ears in fresh veggies, herbs, and anything else we managed to stick in the dirt.

That means we’ve had to get creative with ways to use up all this goodness: introducing my new “From the Garden” series. This summer, I’ll be highlighting ways I’m incorporating our little crop into our family meals. No garden? No problem! Check out the peak veggies available at your grocery store or better yet, visit a local farmer’s market!

First up, fresh from the garden Basil Pesto. Y’all- this stuff is seriously good.

I like to pull this together earlier in the week, put it in a jar, and use it for the next few days! We had pesto with everything last week: pasta with peas and crispy prosciutto, salads, pizza, as a dip for pretzels, you name it, we pesto’d it.

Full recipe below. Let me know what you and your family end up pesto-ing!

Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pine nuts

• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic (about 4 cloves)

• 2 1/2 fresh basil leaves, packed

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• Zest of one lemon

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

• 1/2 cup good olive oil

• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesean

Instructions:

1. Place pine nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven at 350 degrees until fragrant and golden- be careful not to burn! Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

2. Place the pine nuts and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds.

3. Add the basil leaves, salt, pepper, and lemon zest.

4. With the processor running, slowly pour the lemon juice and olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed.

5. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute.

6. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top (to prevent the basil from browning)