Recipe: Pasta with Fresh Pesto Sauce

This delicious sauce is made up of just a few key ingredients — basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and Parmesan cheese — and only takes a few minutes to make. It's versatile and can be used on spaghetti, as a garnish on baked potato and as a spread on sandwiches, just to name a few of its many uses.

All of these ingredients can be found at most grocery stores, including . To make this recipe, you'll need a food processor.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 packed cups of basil leaves
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 3/4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 c. walnuts or pine nuts
• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 pkg. thin spaghetti

Here's how you make it:

Using your food processor, combine the basil, Parmesan cheese, garlic, nuts, oil and salt. Blend until it's almost smooth, occasionally scraping the sides of the food processor to ensure all ingredients blend evenly.

Meanwhile, cook the thin spaghetti. After draining — and while still hot — toss the pesto mix with the spaghetti until the spaghetti is coated evenly. Garnish with a sprig of basil and serve hot.

If you don't use all of the pesto sauce, you can put it into a bag and refrigerate or freeze it.

Do you have a recipe you want to share with other Patch readers? Email cassandra.day@patch.com.