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Cilantro Pesto

About 3 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro, rinsed and dried
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup roasted pine nuts, walnuts, cashews or other nuts
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbls lemon juice
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt or to taste

1. Strip cilantro leaves from the stems. Set the leaves aside. Coarsely chop the stems and place in food processor or a blender.
2. Add cheese, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, pepper and salt and process to a uniform consistency.
3. Add leaves and process until the leaves are coarsely chopped

Uses for pesto excerpted from www.apinchof.com
A pasta sauce is the most obvious and traditional way to use pesto but you will find many other tasty ways to put it on the menu.

For pasta, toss a few tablespoons of pesto with hot pasta and a bit of the cooking water until well coated. Toss in a few raw or blanched vegetables like tomatoes, broccoli or artichokes if desired. This is good served hot or at room temperature.
Stir a teaspoon of pesto into a bowl of piping hot soup just before serving as a colorful and tasty garnish. Allow a bit of pesto to melt over the top of broiled fish or steamed veggies.

To make a terrific appetizer, lightly toast slices of French bread, spread on a thin layer of pesto and pass under a broiler until it is hot and bubbly.

You might also spread a layer of pesto over your pork chops just before you finish broiling them.

Or make your favorite bread recipe. Roll it out like pizza dough, spread on pesto and roll it up as if you were making cinnamon rolls. Or use it as a pizza topping.