Cut The Cost of Pesto -- Presto!

Has anyone else noticed that the price of already pricey pesto has crept upwards in recent months? I have! The standard Buitoni Pesto Basil in the plastic container with the green lid is now $5.49 for seven ounces and even the store brand is up to $4.99 for the same quantity.  I stopped buying it because it was too expensive until one of my teenagers decided to become a vegetarian. Suddenly, pesto was back on my radar. Store bought pesto is easier and cheaper than homemade pesto via a mortar and pestle. And I remembered the first time I tasted pesto at a dinner party in New York City when I was working in publishing (read: broke) with other young women in the pink collar ghetto who refused to suffice style or socializing because of a publishing house paycheck. When I was first served the economy dinner party fare, the spaghetti in green sauce, I was overcome by the intoxicating aroma of the pesto. Basil has a fragrance that is only enhanced with a good cheese and buttery pine nuts, as it is in pesto. Pesto tastes amazing. It is a uniquely flavored comfort food and a great option to red sauces for pasta.

So here's how you get to keep cut your pesto cost in half: Add milk. Yup. That's it! Dump the pesto into a sauce pan, and add milk as the pesto heats up to stretch the pesto and create a creamy pesto-alfredo type sauce. My suggestion is start pouring and tasting. You decide how thin you want the sauce. The more milk, the more you stretch your pesto. You can add an equal amount of milk to pesto for a thinner sauce or less for a thicker sauce. The result is actually a much better sauce than straight pesto on pasta.

Decadence: Feeling flush? Instead of milk use half and half. This is what was used when I was originally introduced to at that dinner in Manhattan. The consistency is thicker and more lush to the taste.

Eat your vegetables: Buy a handful of loose grape tomatoes. You'll cut your costs noticeably by purchasing only a handful of the loose fruit (yes, tomatoes are a fruit) rather than a pre-measured plastic box full. Wash and slice these in halves, then toss in with the dressed pasta. Want more? Toss in a small can of pre-sliced, drained black olives as well.

Dinner for 2 to 4 is under $10.