Metric:
200ml Olive Oil
( plus extra for storing )
150gr Parmesan Cheese
( or vegetarian alternative )
100gr Basil
60gr Pecorino Cheese
30gr Pine Nuts
4 Garlic Cloves
Salt
TRADITIONAL ITALIAN RECIPE: Every year I plant Italian Basil and every year the plants do so well that I can’t use it up fast enough. What to do? Basil Pesto, of course! Here is the traditional Italian Pesto Recipe.
Note that pesto is always made to taste, based on the ingredients at hand. So adjust the ingredients to your taste. Most pesto recipes call for Parmesan cheese, but other use Romano which has a stronger flavor. Truth is, you should put both. Basil pesto recipes often call for pine nuts but you can easily substitute walnuts if you cannot find pine nuts.
On the surface, Pesto is a very simple sauce. It requires no cooking, and has few ingredients. And yet read just any authoritative source on pesto and you're confronted with a laundry list of Dos and Don'ts. It's very important to remember a couple of things:
- it's really easy to get sick of Pesto Sauce
- Pesto Sauce is not easy ot digest.
Despite its simplicity, there are several variables to explore when making pesto. Read those who wax poetic on proper pesto, and you'll usually encounter the following rules:
- The Basil: do it right, and that basil should be freshly picked from the Ligurian hillsides when the leaves are small and the basil plants are flowering. Obviously, that's out of the question for most of us.
- The Olive Oil: which should be buttery and mild, freshly pressed from Ligurian taggiasca olives. Most of us can find this oil, but it tends to be expensive.
- The Cheese: Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino Fiore Sardo, and preferably not the sharper, saltier, tangier (and much more widely available) Pecorino Romano that many recipes in the Unites States call for.
- The nuts are typically pine nuts, though some recipes will substitute walnuts. And most recipes call for them untoasted.
- The Method: should you use a mortar and pestle, as tradition dictates, or go the easy route and whip it up in a food processor?
Some necessary "attitudes" when making pesto ( found on an weird Italian website ):
- Enthusiasm
- A little common sense
- Some elbow grease
Basil is a powerfully aromatic herb and a little goes a long way. You can mellow the pesto out a bit by subbing half of the basil with fresh baby spinach leaves. The pesto will more easily stay vibrant green and the flavor of the basil will still come through, though just not as strongly.
If you want to freeze the pesto you make, omit the cheese, it doesn’t freeze well. When you want to use, defrost and add in grated Parmesan or Romano.
Skill Level:  |
Time: 20 Minutes |
Price:  |
Serves: 8 People |
Ingredients:
| Conversions |
Directions:
01 - Put all ingredients into a food processor ( or smash everything by hand ) until smooth.
02 - Pour the Pesto into a jar and cover with a little Olive Oil, then seal and store in the fridge. It will keep in a fridge for up to two weeks.
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| Written by: Uncut Recipes | Disclaimer |
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