Monday afternoon, one of my co-workers asked if I’d like a giant bag filled with fresh basil leaves. Would I ever! I have a few basil plants growing in pots on my patio, but I’ll never be able to harvest as many leaves at one time as were in the bag. Then she mentioned she’d stemmed, washed and dried the leaves, sparing me that tedious task.

I hadn’t made pesto yet this summer, so as soon as I got home, I pulled out my food processor. I put in the steel blade, turned on the processor, and dropped a few peeled cloves of garlic down the feed tube. When the garlic was minced, I opened the machine and added a couple of ounces of Parmesan, which I’d roughly cubed, and all the pine nuts I had in the freezer (probably 3 tablespoons). Walnuts would work, too — the amounts and ingredients in this recipe are adaptable to whatever you have on hand.

I pulsed the processor until the nuts and cheese were coarsely ground, then filled it to the top with basil. It’s a 14-cup processor, and I’m guessing I added about 12 cups of basil leaves. I pulsed again until the basil was chopped, then turned on the processor and slowly poured 1/4 cup of olive oil through the feed tube. A little salt, and the pesto was done.

In the meantime, I boiled a big pot of water and cooked some multi-grain penne. For a main dish, I heated a little olive oil in a big nonstick skillet and made a stir-fry of onions, mushrooms, halved grape tomatoes and chunks of roasted red pepper-flavored chicken sausage.

When the pasta was done, I ladled out some of the cooking water, then drained the pasta. I stirred in about a fourth of the pesto, then added enough hot cooking water to reach the right consistency. The hearty texture of the pasta was a nice match to the intensely flavored pesto.

Even before we ate, I transfered the rest of the pesto to a container, pressed plastic wrap tight against the surface so the bright green color wouldn’t fade, and put it in the refrigerator.

The next night, I pulled out the pesto for another simple, healthful meal. I zapped a few ears of corn (rinse the corn, wrap in waxed paper and microwave on high for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per ear), cooked up some vegetarian sausage patties (Morningstar Farms, our favorite) and made an omelet (using 2 egg whites for each whole egg). Just before the eggs were done, I spooned on dabs of pesto, spread it thinly, and added a sprinkling of halved grape tomatoes. This simple creation was one of the best omelets I’ve ever made.

Tonight, I’m pulling out the pesto again. I’m going to use it as a topping for whole-wheat pizza crust (I’m giving Boboli’s whole-wheat crust a try) along with sauteed onion, red pepper, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. A light sprinkling of mozzarella will be the finishing touch.

And if any pesto is left? I’ll dollop it onto waxed paper, freeze it, then pop the pesto into plastic bags to use another time. This basil truly was a gift that keeps on giving.

(Photo by Katherine Bish.)