RECIPE: Pesto-Butter Spread

If, like me, you're one of those people who are constantly ambushed by visitors who invite themselves to dinner or lunch or any other meal in between, you'd of course need time to prepare a "surprise" meal...while in the mean time needing to shut their mouths so you could concentrate on your cooking. And when they're already hungry when your ingredients are just starting to thaw out and still a few hours more before food's ready, this recipe's a good one to keep them semi-full and have them stop complaining. Just make sure you have wheat bread (or any variant would do), baguettes or pita bread ready to spread these onto.

And, oh...make sure to prepare this WAY IN ADVANCE...as Ate Vi says, "you can never can tell" when these (unwanted--hehe) visitors would pop in and you'd need to serve this quick appetizer.

_____________________________________________________________________________

You will need: fresh basil leaves (young leaves preferably), extra-virgin (yeeeeah) olive oil, half a block (or whole, depending on your need) of butter or solid margarine, salt and pepper to taste

You will also need: a blender and some ice cube trays (try those fancy shapes just for fun)

FOR THE PESTO: Put enough basil leaves into a blender. Add at least half a cup (yes, I said at least...so feel free to throw in the whole freaking bottle) of extra virgin olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Blend ingredients until you get a gooey consistency--ensuring, however, that they don't end up looking like Gerber goo. (You may end up making a lot of this pesto, so make sure to save some in the fridge. This makes a really good pasta sauce, too)

Now that the pesto's ready, melt the butter/solid margarine in a teflon fan over low heat. Careful not to burn it or to make it dry up--or it won't solidify again....EVERRRRRRRRR. Remove pan from the stove. (Note that you can also melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl, you lazy ass boi)

Add enough pesto mixture into the melted butter. It's not a perfect science...so just stop when you see a good amount of the greens mixing with the yellows.

Spray ice cube trays with cooking oil in a can. Pour mixture into tray and put the trays into the chiller (not the freezer, duh). In about an hour, it should solidify into a good firm form. You can keep it there or pop them out and transfer into plastic or non-stick containers.

These keep for up to 6 months as long as they're in the fridge. Serve as spread with bread, or melted as dips.

Enjoy!