Hi Everyone,
I've only tried this recipe once, but I enjoyed it so much I thought that I'd share it with you. It's from "David Rocco's Dolce Vita" book. I love pesto!
First here are some tips directly out of the book.
1. First make sure your basil leaves are completely dry. Water will make your pesto turn brownand spoil sooner. Wash basil well, then spin it in a salad spinner to get all the water out, and pat dry with a cloth. I prefer to use Genovese basil, which has smaller leaves and, I think, a sweeter taste.
2. Garlic? Well, deffinitly QB. I know that people get a little crazy when it comes to Italian cooking and think that garlic makes it authentic. But it is raw garlic, so you have to be careful. Too much and your in danger of overpowering everything with a bitter garlic aftertaste. That's not a great thing in my opinion, in a suace that's made to take advantage of lovely sweet basil.
3. I like to use corse sea salt. The texture of the salt actually helps grind the leaves, to get all the great fragrance and oils out of the basil.
4. Oh yeah, about the pine nuts: I like to lightly toast them. This isn't necessary, and true Genovesse pesto does not call for it, but I like the nutty falvour brought out by toasting. It only takes a few minutes. Throw them into a dry frying pan on low heat and keep your eye on them, because they are dlicate and can burn quickly.
5. Last thing: Parimgiano-Reggiano. Make sure you always buy fresh Parmigiano. Don't buy the pre-grated stuff. You don' know what your getting.
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4 cups (1L) fresh bail leaves, washed and throughly dried
1/2 cup (125ml) pine nuts, toasted
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp (7ml) course sea salt
1 cup (250ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup (250ml) freashly grated Pamigiano-Reggiano cheese
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Put your basil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt into your *motar and, with the pestle, begin to press and mulch all the ingredients into a paste. Slowly drizzle in some olive oil until it's the texture you like. Now add your Parmigiano to the mortar and mix until it's thoroughly combined and there's an even consistency.
To keep your pesto from spoiling, make sure you top your jar with extra-virgin olive oil, and store in the fridge.
*I followed the same steps but made my pesto in a food processer instead of using a mortar.
MAKES 2 TO 3 CUPS (500 to 750ml)
Enjoy!
I've only tried this recipe once, but I enjoyed it so much I thought that I'd share it with you. It's from "David Rocco's Dolce Vita" book. I love pesto!
First here are some tips directly out of the book.
1. First make sure your basil leaves are completely dry. Water will make your pesto turn brownand spoil sooner. Wash basil well, then spin it in a salad spinner to get all the water out, and pat dry with a cloth. I prefer to use Genovese basil, which has smaller leaves and, I think, a sweeter taste.
2. Garlic? Well, deffinitly QB. I know that people get a little crazy when it comes to Italian cooking and think that garlic makes it authentic. But it is raw garlic, so you have to be careful. Too much and your in danger of overpowering everything with a bitter garlic aftertaste. That's not a great thing in my opinion, in a suace that's made to take advantage of lovely sweet basil.
3. I like to use corse sea salt. The texture of the salt actually helps grind the leaves, to get all the great fragrance and oils out of the basil.
4. Oh yeah, about the pine nuts: I like to lightly toast them. This isn't necessary, and true Genovesse pesto does not call for it, but I like the nutty falvour brought out by toasting. It only takes a few minutes. Throw them into a dry frying pan on low heat and keep your eye on them, because they are dlicate and can burn quickly.
5. Last thing: Parimgiano-Reggiano. Make sure you always buy fresh Parmigiano. Don't buy the pre-grated stuff. You don' know what your getting.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 cups (1L) fresh bail leaves, washed and throughly dried
1/2 cup (125ml) pine nuts, toasted
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp (7ml) course sea salt
1 cup (250ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup (250ml) freashly grated Pamigiano-Reggiano cheese
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Put your basil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt into your *motar and, with the pestle, begin to press and mulch all the ingredients into a paste. Slowly drizzle in some olive oil until it's the texture you like. Now add your Parmigiano to the mortar and mix until it's thoroughly combined and there's an even consistency.
To keep your pesto from spoiling, make sure you top your jar with extra-virgin olive oil, and store in the fridge.
*I followed the same steps but made my pesto in a food processer instead of using a mortar.
MAKES 2 TO 3 CUPS (500 to 750ml)
Enjoy!
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