Pesto Basics

Many of us remember significant firsts in our lives - first car, first girl/boyfriend, first...well...you get the idea. I remember my first taste of pesto as if it's yesterday. It was when I worked for Houlihan's Olde Place restaurant back in the early '80's. We had a pizza on the menu which featured pesto sauce instead of tomato sauce, along with artichoke hearts, black olives, tomatos, slivered almonds and a few ingredients I'm forgetting. But, like Macho Grande, I'll never be over that pesto. Herbacious, garlicky, nutty...I was hooked. I mistakenly tried to make it with dried basil once. Once.


Basic Pesto Sauce

• 3 cups FRESH basil leaves (stems removed), rinsed and dried
• 2-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Place basil, garlic (start with about 1/2) and nuts in food processor and blend, adding oil slowly, until it forms a liquid-y paste (when you stop blending, a little bit of the oil should begin to pool). Add salt and pepper to taste, and more garlic if you wish. Remove to bowl, and fold in parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings.

(photo from Google Images)

HINT: I usually wait to add cheese until after I toss the sauce with pasta, otherwise the cheese will melt and get clumpy. Also, pesto freezes well, but not if the cheese is already added in.


For the more Adventurous: 
For a "crudo style" pesto, instead of using a food processor, finely chop the basil, crush the garlic and nuts together in a mortar and pestle, and then mix all ingredients together in bowl, adding oil bit by bit.