Mmm..pesto!

I haven't yet touched upon an mostly-all-absorbing passion - fooood! I'm reeally interested in reading about various cuisines and eating 'em. Cooking..well, occasionally, set to wine and music. The daily grind of cooking isn't for us.
Let's talk about pesto. Aromatic,yummy, cheesy, WONDERFUL pesto. And we make the best pesto ever, right here at home. Really. Whenever we try a new restaurant, we often order their pesto. And then look at each other. No way. Ours is miles better.
The origin of this recipe is a book called 'Pasta, pasta, pasta'(!), edited by Jane Donovan. A good book - recipes are clear and come out tasty.
Whenever we feel pesto-y, we start sourcing parmesan. Not easy in Mysore. Nilgiri's does keep parmesan, but it's expensive and slightly bitter. I prefer the Auroville parmesan, which needs to be sourced in Bangalore. A few times a year we work with parmesan from the UK which my sister sends.
Then - up to the terrace to get frrresssh basil leaves from our plant; grind walnuts, peppercorns, garlic and the parmesan to a crumbly mix; add basil leaves and olive oil and process to a sludgy mix, adding a tad of salt along the way. Ahhhhh. Now bottle it. First, we have it with pasta (pasta!pasta!) with whole grain bread and a salad. Next day, spread over toast as an evening snack. And ever so often, sneak to the kitchen, open the fridge and spread it over Monaco crackers for a quick pop-in-the-mouth-leave-no-evidence mouthful, till it's all gone....then it starts all over again!