Lemon pesto

The Goods*:

2 cups fresh basil

1/4 cup pine nuts**

2/3 cup olive oil

1 lemon's worth of lemon zest

parmesan cheese

1 lb Dave's Fresh Pasta Asparagus and Lemon Raviolis

Place the pine nuts in a skillet on medium heat. Toast until just after they brown. Remove from the heat and set aside. Remove the basil leaves from the stems and give them a rough chop. Add the basil, pine nuts, lemon zest, a healthy pinch of kosher salt, and some ground black pepper to the food processor (or, if you're like me, a blender). Pulse twice at low speed. Slowly add the oil while pulsing the at low speed. Continue blending/processing until the ingredients are well incorporated.

Cook one's pasta/ravioli per box/vendor instructions. After draining, toss the pasta with the pesto and top liberally with grated parmesan cheese.

*Pesto is one of those things, that to me, exists in this abstract kind of "Why in the world would I ever pay for that when I can make it?" way. Of course, one has to get to the business of actually MAKING said dish. This past week, in what can only be described as fully blown serendipity, I spied one of those large plastic containers full of basil in the produce section at WF. Sadly, there is no magic ratio courtesy of Michael Ruhlman. I did a quick web search for basic pesto recipes, but found nothing terribly consistent, so here goes my half-assed kitchen cobbling...

**Be sure to avoid these pine nuts.