How to Make Traditional Pesto Sauce in under 2 Minutes
Pesto’s origins: Pesto sauce – called Pesto alla Genovese – dates back to ancient Rome, and the basic recipe still holds true its roots to this day: fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese (sometimes Pecorino as well) and salt.
Fun fact: the word Pesto means “pounded” in Italian.
Pesto’s taste: Pesto tastes creamy, “garlicly”, and of course like basil, a fresh aroma with subtle notes of pepper, mint, and citrus.
What to use pesto with: Just about anything you can think of – it’s a great dip for breads, meat and vegetables, spread for toast, marinades for meat, sauce for pasta …
Recipe for Traditional Homemade Pesto Sauce
Special equipment: either a mortar and pestle to grind everything by hand into a paste (which takes a bit longer), or a food processor
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (Romano and Pecorino also work. If you don’t have any fresh cheese available, the powdered version you can buy at the supermarket works well too, but the flavor is not as strong/fresh)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts (you can substitute with walnuts – it will change the taste – but both versions are good. I personally prefer pine nuts. Another tip – for more depth, you can dry roast the pine nuts in a pan on medium heat for 1 minute (no butter or oil), and do not exceed 1 minute – they burn quickly!)
3 fresh garlic cloves, crushed (you can crush them flat with the blade of a chef’s knife)
Pinch of coarse salt and pinch of black pepper
Combine all ingredients but the oil in the food processor and pulse continuously, alternating scraping down the sides and pulsing again, for about 1 minute. Then, while on low, slowly add the oil. Adding the oil slowly helps keep the oil from separating (emulsification). That’s all – enjoy!
If using a pestle and mortar, do the same, but first grind the pine nuts and garlic to a fine paste, then chop the basil leaves and add those, then the cheese, and finally slowly stir in the oil.
Yields about 1 cup. Store in refrigerator.
Try this homemade pesto out with Pesto and Ricotta stuffed Chicken Breasts. Get the Recipe here.
