Traditional basil pesto is made by hand with a mortar and pestle, and is thick and silky smooth. My everyday pesto is a much easier rustic version that is unashamedly chunkier. It’s still fabulous! Summer isn’t summer for my family without basil pesto. It goes on pasta, chicken, cheese sandwiches, tomatoes, pizza … you get the picture, right? We eat it all the time, in lots of ways. Good thing it’s easy to grow, and it needs frequent cutting, too. Win-win!
Traditional Basil Pesto makes about 1 1/2 cups
- 3 plump cloves garlic, peeled
- generous pinch salt
- 2 Tbsp pine nuts (about 1 ounce)
- 1 large bunch of fresh basil, yielding 3 cups packed leaves (3 oz)
- 1/2 c plus 1 Tbsp mild olive oil (5 oz)
- 1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 ounce grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Put garlic cloves, salt, and pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor. Whiz to chop finely and combine. Add the basil leaves, and whiz again. With the motor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube, and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the cheeses, and puree about a minute more.
Serve, or store with a thin film of olive oil on top. Pesto does not freeze well – to freeze, omit the cheese, and add it in once you’ve thawed the basil/oil paste.
NOTE: if you don’t have pine nuts, you can use raw almonds or walnuts, or even sunflower seeds. Adjust the ingredients and proportions to fit your taste and what’s on hand.
Traditional basil pesto
Ingredients
- 3 plump cloves garlic, peeled
- generous pinch salt
- 2 Tbsp pine nuts, about 1 ounce
- 1 large bunch fresh basil, yielding 3 cups packed leaves (about 3 ounces)
- 1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 ounce grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Instructions
- Toast the pine nuts for fuller flavor – but if you’re rushed, you can skip that step. If pine nuts are hard to find, you could use almonds, walnuts, even peeled sunflower seeds.
- Put the pine nuts, garlic cloves, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Whiz to chop finely and combine. Add the basil leaves, and whiz again.
- With the motor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube, and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the cheeses, and puree about a minute more.
- Serve, or store with a thin film of olive oil on top
TO FREEZE PESTO
- For larger amounts, ½ cup or more: transfer pesto to a sealable container, and cover the surface with a very thin layer of olive oil. Tightly seal the container, and put in the freezer. That layer of olive oil will minimize browning on the surface of the pesto as it freezes.These larger quantities of pesto are perfect for a whole-meal recipe.
- For small amounts: put spoonfuls of pesto into ice cube trays, and freeze until solid. Once the cubes are solid, transfer them to a zip top bag. Pesto cubes are excellent for a hit of flavor. Incorporate a cube into a soup or stew, or defrost to spread a bit on a sandwich.