I will not go into excursions about the origin of this Italian specialty.
Google is here to help you. And all the pesto recipes on the Internet are full of the same description. I don't want to repeat myself. For a recipe for homemade classic pesto sauce, I turned to an old family friend, Señor Saltoformaggio.
How happy he was to find in me a grateful and, most importantly, very patient listener. Signor Michele's wife, the venerable Mrs. Magda (here is her fettuccine recipe), did not allow his oratorical talent to run wild. I will give you a brief report on the lecture I listened to via Skype today.
Which basil is best for making pesto?
The varieties of basil are like the stars in the sky. But we need green, and not just any green, but Genoese. It has convex glossy bright light green leaves of medium size, similar to “il paracadute” (parachute) and a heady anise aroma. Other varieties have the same aroma. It has an admixture of mint and lemon notes, which is “not comme il faut” for a classic pesto.
God, what subtleties! Luckily for me, at our local market they often sell just the right one, in bunches and flower pots. I sniffed the bundle I had purchased and closed my eyes with pleasure - I don’t know if it is of pure “blood”, but it smells divine! We have one “right” ingredient for the recipe.
Homemade pesto sauce - recipe
Pesto is a sauce popular all over the world, and Italy, namely Genoa, is considered its homeland. There it is prepared exclusively from green basil and extra virgin olive oil, which is aromatic and slightly bitter. There is also a version of red pesto in which, in addition to the main ingredients, sun-dried tomatoes are added. In different countries, this sauce has its own national differences, for example, in Germany it is prepared with the addition of wild garlic, and in Austria pine nuts are replaced with pumpkin seeds. In fact, the original recipe doesn’t even use pine nuts, but pine nuts. These are closest relatives and their tastes are practically the same. Moreover, with such aromatic products as basil, garlic and olive oil, even the most sophisticated gourmet will not notice the difference. So, how to make the ideal pesto sauce recipe and what to eat it with, you will get answers to these and other questions in this article.
How to Make Classic Green Basil Pesto
This is a truly unique sauce, because... Easily suits fish and meat dishes, salads and spaghetti; pasta, soups and sandwiches are prepared with it. And at the same time it is very useful because... The main ingredients are basil and high-quality extra virgin olive oil, as well as pine nuts.
Ingredients:
- basil – 150 g;
- olive oil – 120 ml;
- Parmesan cheese – 80 g;
- sweet pecorino cheese – 50 g;
- pine nuts – 45 g;
- garlic – 1 clove;
- salt.
Preparation
For basil sauce, only leaves are taken, stems are not used. The easiest way to prepare is with a blender, so throw the basil leaves into a bowl, add half the oil to better grind the greens and chop. Lightly fry the nuts in a dry frying pan for a maximum of 30 seconds on each side. We add nuts and garlic to the basil, grate the cheese on the finest grater, because it is very hard and if the pieces are large, there is a possibility that they will not be chopped properly. Add oil, salt and grind it all into a homogeneous mass. The consistency can be adjusted, because... some people like the sauce completely smooth, while others simply grind it into fine crumbs. You need to be careful with salt, because... The cheese itself is already salty.
This sauce can be stored for a very long time in the refrigerator in a closed jar, especially if you pour a small amount of olive oil on top. This way a film is created, air does not get into the sauce and it does not spoil.
Homemade pesto recipe
Of course, the classic pesto recipe has already been tested for years and is considered a basic sauce. But the ingredients included in its composition are quite expensive, and not everyone has the opportunity to purchase them. Therefore, we suggest experimenting a little with products and making homemade pesto that is no less tasty than the classic one. The only thing that should not be replaced in the sauce is cheese. It should be exactly that very hard and rich in flavor like Parmesan, it could be cheddar, Gruyere or Grana Padano.
Ingredients:
- cashew nuts – 100 g;
- spinach – 60 g;
- celery – 60 g;
- parsley – 30 g;
- arugula – 60 g;
- mint – 20 g;
- lemon juice – 15 ml;
- garlic – 2 cloves;
- olive oil – 200 ml;
- parmesan – 100 g;
- salt.
Preparation
Wash and dry all the greens. We choose the combination and quantity to suit your taste, you can add cilantro if you like. It is best to remove hard stems if possible. Grind all the herbs in a blender or using an immersion blender, add all other ingredients (except cheese) and 2/3 of the oil. Why not all the oil at once? In order not to miss the consistency, it is better to add more later. As soon as the mass has become more or less homogeneous, add finely grated cheese, oil if needed, and make just a few more turns. The sauce is ready!
What “gadgets” to use to make pesto
- Authentic set of tools: marble mortar and wooden(!) pestle.
- Modern equipment: blender.
My comments
- Last New Year, I received an absolutely wonderful marble mortar and pestle as a gift from my son. I’ll prepare pesto “semi-authentically” - where can I get wooden ones? To keep the ingredients from overheating, I cool them in the refrigerator. I think that the classic recipe will not suffer much, and I won’t say anything to the Italian.
- The blender is very attractive, I will definitely try it too. By the standards of adherents of Italian cuisine, this is complete bad manners, but it is quick and practical.
Pesto
In the original recipe, most of the ingredients are practically unavailable here, and the types of ingredients are strictly defined. Basil leaves - basilico di Pra'giovani, olive oil - della Riviera Ligure, pine nuts - Pinoli italiani, pecorino - Fiore sardo, garlic Aglio di Vessalico. Things are more clear with Parmesan and sea salt - they are on sale. Therefore, as is done even in Italy, unavailable components are replaced.
Ingredients:
- Green basil 2 bunches;
- Pecorino, Parmesan or Grana Padano 100 g;
- Olive oil 5-6 tbsp. l.;
- Garlic 2-3 cloves;
- Pine or cedar nuts 50 g;
- Sea salt to taste.
How to cook:
Remove all leaves from the basil sprigs. Basil stems are tough and not suitable for consumption. Wash the leaves and dry them as much as possible from moisture.
If you have a marble mortar and wooden pestle, grind the leaves into a paste.
And I'll use a kitchen blender. Place basil leaves, peeled garlic cloves, pine nuts in a blender, add 1-2 pinches of salt - it is customary to add coarse sea salt.
Grind everything until puree. Add Parmesan - grate it so that the blender chops the cheese more evenly and finely.
Pour in olive oil. Grind everything again. The result will be a fairly thick puree of bright green color.
The actual sauce is ready. You can try it, spread it on bread or cookies. You can cook a good vegetable soup or cook pasta.
Classic composition and ratio of products in the recipe for pesto sauce from Genoa
Ingredients
- 50 g basil leaves.
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts.
- 50 g parmesan.
- 50 g pecorino.
- 2 cloves of homemade juicy aromatic garlic.
- 100 ml extra virgin olive oil.
My comments
- The first question that arose regarding the composition of the ingredients for the classic pesto recipe: 50 grams - how many leaves is that? Armed with electronic scales, I weighed 2 leaves (along with a salt shaker, otherwise the scales would not respond to their mass) - their mass is 1 gram! Therefore, one has a mass of only 0.5 grams. To prepare pesto according to this recipe, we will need 100 pieces (a bunch of about 10 branches).
- In our conditions, pine nuts will have to be replaced with pine nuts.
- I have not been able to find Pecorino at the moment. I don't know how much the "classicity" would suffer if I made the pesto with only Parmesan.
Basil and Mayonnaise Pesto Recipe
The original taste of the sauce will appeal to even the most demanding gourmets. To prepare it we will need the following products:
- Basil – 15 grams.
- Olive oil - two tablespoons.
- Two egg yolks.
- Mustard - one teaspoon.
- White wine vinegar - one teaspoon.
- Salt to taste.
- Vegetable oil.
The recipe for basil pesto is quite simple:
- Place fresh leaves in boiling water, then remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to the ice-cold liquid.
- Squeeze out excess moisture, place the basil in a blender bowl and add two tablespoons of olive oil. Turn on the device for two minutes.
- Separately, whisk two egg yolks, vinegar and mustard. Gradually add olive oil to them, remembering to constantly stir the products.
- When the mayonnaise is ready, dilute it with a little water and combine with basil.
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How to Make Classic Genoa Pesto Sauce
Cooking the old fashioned way
Place peeled garlic, nuts and a couple of grains of coarse sea salt in a mortar (for added ambience). Rub vigorously, using swirling movements, counterclockwise until the mass becomes cream-like.
After this, add pure basil with salt, rubbing it mercilessly, tearing the unfortunate fibers of the leaves, releasing the essential oils. Movements are circular. We don’t push, but we grind.
Add grated cheese in several portions. Olive oil comes last, everything is thoroughly mixed and that’s it.
Modern way
Everything is even simpler here. Place washed and towel-dried basil, peeled garlic, salt, nuts, chopped cheese and olive oil in a blender bowl.
"Whack"! A minute and he's ready.
My comments
- It’s even somehow inconvenient that the famous recipe for classic pesto sauce was contained in a few lines. It’s not for nothing that they say that everything ingenious is simple. But the devil is in the details! You can do everything strictly according to the classical canons, but you won’t like the taste of pesto sauce, although you love each product individually with tender love.
- The proportions of ingredients are not a dogma. Perhaps you will like a pesto recipe with more or less nuts. Some may not like the too obvious “competition” of two dominant flavors - basil and extra virgin olive oil. In this case, “create” the recipe for yourself: use refined ingredients for cooking, experiment with the amount of nuts and cheese.
Useful tips
- You can use one of my recipes and make excellent basil pesto sauce for the winter . To do this, you just need to freeze it in the freezer and subsequently take as much as you need.
- This seasoning can be prepared not only from expensive and rare ingredients. The main products here are basil and olive oil. The remaining ingredients can be added to your liking. It could be thyme, mint or other spices. Pine nuts can be replaced with almonds or walnuts.
- Wash the basil well before making the pesto.
- Also remember to wash the blender after use. If this procedure is postponed, the remaining food will dry out and will be very difficult to wash off.
Classic recipe for pesto sauce from Trapani
Ingredients
- 8-10 fresh fleshy cherry tomatoes.
- 3-6 cloves of garlic.
- 40-50 g almonds.
- 40 g bread crumbs.
- 100 ml extra virgin olive oil.
- 50 basil leaves.
- Black peppercorns.
- Sea salt.
How to cook
Blanch the tomatoes, peel them, remove the seeds and liquid. Dry the bread crumbs in a frying pan, and dry the almonds in a frying pan for 3-4 minutes.
Cowardly, we take a blender and put the ingredients specified in the recipe into the bowl. We chop, but without fanaticism. It turns out to be as beautiful as in the photo.
My comments
- Michele told me that Trapani is a port city in Sicily. The recipe for this pesto is recognized by the Academy (some Italian culinary school, I don’t quite understand) as a classic, along with the well-known recipe for green basil pesto.
- Bread crumbs can be replaced with coarse white bread crumbs.
Classic recipe
First, let's look at the classic pesto sauce.
The recipe at home is quite simple, and now you will see it. So, to prepare it we will need: - green basil;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
– olive oil – 150 ml;
– pine nuts – 80 g;
— parmesan – 100 g;
- coarse sea salt.
How to make pesto sauce at home? Homemade recipes for the classic version call for Parmesan, olive oil and basil in the base. Other ingredients are just a taste addition.
If you want to make real pesto sauce, then it is better not to use a blender in this case. To prepare it, you need to stock up on a metal mortar and pestle (it’s better not to use wooden utensils in this case, so as not to dull the amazing aroma of our dressing). So, put the pre-washed and dried basil in a mortar, sprinkle it with a pinch of sea salt and begin to thoroughly grind it until it becomes mushy. After this, gradually add finely chopped garlic and nuts. We continue to pound. Finely grate Parmesan cheese and add it to our basil mixture. Gradually we begin to add olive oil, mix, and that’s it, our classic version of pesto sauce is ready. Bon appetit!
What should a properly prepared pesto look like? The sauce should be bright green in color with a uniform and fairly thick consistency. To thicken, place it in the refrigerator for several hours.
How to prepare for the winter
The season for fresh seasonal vegetables and herbs is very short. So you want busiate with pesto in the middle of winter, what should you do? Deny yourself such a pleasure only for the reason that in the supermarket they charge for a jar (about the size of a thimble) of Italian pesto (read the ingredients, you will be quite surprised) as for an aircraft carrier? Oh no! We will simply freeze homemade pesto for the winter in plastic containers (if you have a lot of it).
Or modestly - in ice trays.
If your goal is to preserve the sauce for only a few days, then pour olive oil on top and put it in the refrigerator. But I'm afraid that storing it in public places is a stupid idea. They'll eat it and won't blink an eyelid! Who? Yes, everyone who finds it. So we come to the main question: what is it eaten with?
Classic pesto
This sauce is very popular in its homeland. In the province of Liguria, locals even organize competitions to prepare a popular dish in the traditional way (in a mortar). We also suggest you try making the sauce according to the classic recipe.
This time we will need the following ingredients:
- Three cloves of garlic.
- 100 grams of green basil.
- 150 ml olive oil.
- Four tablespoons of pine nuts.
- 50 grams of parmesan.
So, let's prepare classic Italian basil pesto. Read the sauce recipe here:
- Remove the tough part of the stem from the leaves and finely chop the rest.
- Peel the garlic.
- Cut the cheese into strips.
- Place the prepared ingredients in a blender bowl and begin pulsing them.
- Gradually add olive oil to the products - it should be poured in a thin stream.
Stir the products until smooth.
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What do they eat with?
- With any pasta. There are all sorts of quibbles about the fact that “red” pesto is only good with busiate, and “green” pesto is only good with classic Ligurian troffies. I think that this is unprincipled. Any pesto is good with any pasta. Only (as my Italian friend told me) “you need to activate the pesto” by pouring into it a little water in which the pasta was cooked. The recipe for “pasta with pesto” is incredibly simple: cook the pasta until al dente, drain, add a small part of the water to the pesto. Stir everything together or put the sauce on top - it's up to you. Serve instantly.
- With crostini or bruschetta.
There are a lot of recipes here - combine the sauce with anchovies, cheese, baked fish, prosciutto and other products. - Simply with a piece of fresh Italian ciabatta.
- With fish and grilled meat.
- Stuff a Roman-style roasted leg of lamb with frozen Genoa pesto - my go-to. It turns out just a bomb, may the Academy forgive me!
- Dip bacon grissini breadsticks into it.
- With the reason why I started making pesto - with classic Caprese
and other lesser-known salads. - With classic Italian tomato soup (find the recipe here).
“Pesto” is not a recipe with specific ingredients, but a method of preparation. After all, “pesto” means “to crush, grind, trample.” Therefore, this is just a technology for preparing a whole galaxy of magnificent sauces.
We will talk about pesto made from wild garlic, nettles, arugula, and sun-dried tomatoes at our next meetings, if you, my dear readers, are interested. Write about it in the comments, please! If you found something useful in my writing, then share what you found on social networks, I will be very grateful. Subscribe to blog updates - I promise a lot of fun communication. Always yours Irina. Let me take my leave and wish you all the best! I love the combination of great music and dance. Celentano knows how to stir the soul. Fantasia Flamenca "Aria...non sei più tu"
What is pesto served with?
Classic green or red pesto with sun-dried tomatoes usually complements pasta, pizza, creamy soups, focaccio bread and baked meats perfectly.
In addition, they well emphasize the taste of cream cheeses and complement stewed vegetables - tomatoes, eggplants, peppers. The yellow version with walnuts and ricotta adds a noble hue to vegetable soups and stews, and also goes well with rich and lean bread.
There is a purple version of the sauce based on dark basil with arugula and melted butter. This dressing is perfect for fish dishes with vegetables.
