Basic Pesto Sauce
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ½cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
- ¾cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2garlic cloves
- 2cups packed basil leaves (2½ ounces/75 grams, from 1 big bunch or 2 small bunches)
- 1cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (3 ounces/85 grams)
- ½teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
Nutritional analysis per serving (13.333333333333332 servings)
168 calories; 17 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 76 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Pulse pine nuts in a food processor until they're completely broken down. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula from time to time. Add olive oil and garlic and pulse until garlic is finely chopped.
- Step 2
Chop basil very roughly — just run a knife through it once or twice to cut most of the leaves into halves or thirds — then add to food processor. Pulse, stopping every 15 seconds to push the leaves down with a rubber spatula, until basil is entirely worked into the oil. Pulse for another few seconds, and then stop to prevent turning the basil brown.
- Step 3
Pour pesto base into a bowl and add grated cheese and salt. Stir to combine, then taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Leave the sauce thick to toss with cooked pasta and a little pasta cooking water. To use the pesto as a garnish for grilled or roasted meats, fish and vegetables, thin it out with 2 to 3 more tablespoons olive oil until it’s the consistency of a loose paste. To store leftovers, pour a little more olive oil over the pesto to cover. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to three days.
- To make wild nettle pesto, substitute ½ pound stemmed nettle leaves for the basil. Set a large saucepan over high heat and add 3 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add the nettles and sauté, stirring constantly with tongs, for 30 to 60 seconds until wilted. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool. Squeeze all the water you can from nettles, then roughly chop. Add ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes and proceed as directed above. Toss with pasta, or thin and drizzle over baked or grilled fish.
- To make Mr. Lett's mint-pistachio pesto, substitute mint for the basil and pistachios for the pine nuts. Substitute 2 tablespoons pecorino Romano for the Parmesan and add 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest. Use to garnish spring vegetables, fish and shellfish.
Private Notes
Comments
I freeze pesto in large plastic ziplock freezer bags, squeezing out all of the air, closing and then patting the pesto into a thin layer. You can break off what you need, and because the layer is thin, it will quickly defrost and come to room temperature. Blanch the basil if you want bright green. Try walnuts if you cannot get great pine nuts. Some sources say you should not add nuts and cheese before freezing pesto, but in my experience, the nuts and cheese do just fine.``
Courtesy of Marcella Hazaan, pesto freezes well--minus the dairy. Something to consider when basil is abundant and cheap during the summer. She also uses a combo of 3 parts Parmesan to 1 part pecorino, plus some added butter which transforms this recipe into a real mother of a sauce.
At cooking school in Italy I was taught to blanch basil for pesto and basil oil to keep it bright green indefinitely. Drop into boiling water, stir, drain as water returns to the boil (a few seconds) and immediately put into an ice bath. It doesn't affect the flavor. I notice some other recommendations for blanching and I agree.
If you use a good EVOO this is a beautiful velvet of a pesto. BUT to my taste, it needs a smidge more salt than the recipe calls for and I think the texture would have been better with 1/2 c rather than 3/4 c EVOO. I agree with other reviewers who combine parmesan and pecorino for a slight tang to the pesto. Good with pasta (of course), grilled fish, bread as dipping sauce, and stirred into light soups.
Excellent recipe!! Don’t bother putting salt in it if you are making pasta. The pasta water is KEY in this recipe. Use that instead!
For a variation on this recipe, I use a head of garlic. It is not traditional pesto but the strong garlic taste mixes well with the basil, pine nuts and cheese. Of course if you don't like garlic stick to the traditional pesto.
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