Pesto

Knorr Pasta Sauces, Creamy Pesto Sauce Mix, 1.2-Ounce (Pack of 24)
$29.99
I bought a huge case of these knorr pesto sauces because my fiancee and I used to eat them a year ago all the time and back then they were delicious. But then we moved and my local grocery store did not carry the knorr pasta sauces. However when they arrived and I opened the package I was in for a big disappointment. One thing I used to love about knorr was they used real ingredients-real parmesan and romano cheeses. Apparently not any more. Now this sauce mix is completely artificial-corn starch and preservatives and artificial flavors-blech! It doesn't taste anywhere near as good as the original.

However I give it three stars because it's still tastes better than a lot of the sauces in the store and at least you can use olive oil in your sauce instead of the vegetable oil based sauces in the store. Knorr should be ashamed for ruining a great product. If they had stuck to the original recipe, I'd have given it five stars. I know they are saving money by using artificial ingredients but the cost is too high as this affects the taste and our health. I wouldn't have bought 24 packs if I had known the recipe had changed. I hope they will reconsider the change and put real ingredients back in this product. Here are the ingredients since Amazon doesn't list them:

Maltodextrin, corn starch, wheat flower, salt, whey (milk), monosodium glutamate,spinach, garlic powder, basil, sugar, natural flavor (soy), onion powder, spice

Pestos!: Cooking With Herb Pastes
$8.95
Pestos! by Dorothy Rankin is THE essential book in my herb filled house . Late July provides a wonderful abundance of basil and other leafy herbal delights just begging to be processed. This book gives every detail in direction and proportions to insure perfect pestos.And the variety is enough to keep even the most avid herbalist busy with new ideas for using herbal pastes. It's not just for pasta. And basil is not the only paeto herb. Although the Classic Basil Pesto is good enough to eat spread on crusty bread or even right out of a spoon.The combinations like Cilantro Pesto and Sage Pesto are wonderful ways to use herbs in ways that capture the fresh-picked flavor for a long time. And the recipes like Shrimp with Cold Cilantro Sauce and Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms are delicious and practical.My well-worn copy of this book is my best summer reading. My family and friends are the happy diners who motivate me to use this book each season. Although I've committed many of the recipes to memory after so many years of use, I'd be lost without my copy of Pestos! Easy tasty pestos bring summer garden freshness into more dishes than I'd ever imagined. This book is a must-have for the dedicated or simply curious herb enthusiast.Warnig! Do not loan this book out. You'll never get it back! Get enough copies for sharing. Once they've seen it, everyone wants this book.

Knorr Pesto Sauce Mix, 0.5-Ounce Packages (Pack of 12)
$23.88
This stuff is nasty. My wife bought it and I about puked when I read the ingredient list on the back. The first three ingredients are salt, sugar, and corn starch. Yummy! The package my wife bought has basil listed *after* spinach. Parmesean cheese was somewhere at the end after monosodium glutamate. I suppose it tastes better than Soylent Green, but still....If you want prepackaged Pesto mix, go with McCormick's which at leasts lists basil and parmasean cheese as the first two ingredients.

Very Pesto
$5.99
Maybe it was the long winter without end. Or the snowstorm in late April. Or, belonging to a Food blog where we talked about pesto for 3 pages.

However, while visiting an herb site, I found a link for this book and without hestitation, ordered it from Amazon. I've had it two days, and have made four of the pestos and 6 of the dishes...need I say more....it's FABULOUS!!!

Classic pesto, sage pesto, anchovy pesto...the list goes on and on. And it arrived right when I was having the family over for Mother's Day, hence the mad dash for dinner and lunch dishes.

For the list price of $5.95 or less (through Amazon) you CAN'T go wrong picking up this little book for yourself, and pesto loving friends!