Pesto! That beautifully aromatic sauce that can be used in a variety of ways.
You’ve had it before, and maybe even made it before. Such was the case during my childhood. I grew up eating it, because my mom would often make it. I used to devour it on a pesto and eggplant panini I would get a local restaurant. But it wasn’t until I went to culinary school that I truly began to understand it.
Pesto originated in the city of Genoa, the capital of the Italian region of Liguria. It is traditionally made in a mortar & pestle by crushing the garlic, salt and basil into a small amount of oil until paste like, then adding some pine nuts to the mix, crushing again, adding more oil, and finally finishing with a hard cheese, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano. Despite generally thinking of basil when pesto is mentioned, there are many other varieties. The name “pesto” doesn’t necessarily refer to basil, but the manner in which it is created, by pounding or crushing the ingredients to form a paste.
Today, most people make it using a blender, as it allows for a quick process as well as making pesto in bulk - Speaking of bulk, this is something we should touch on. No matter how much basil you purchase, always remember that once processed, your pesto quantity will always, always, be less than you anticipated. This is simply because, basil leaves, while beautiful, and lush, they are also full of lies. Despite the fact that I began with 3-3 1/2 cups of leaves, it produced a mere cup and a half of pesto. This is a fact that I always find very distressing and yet I find that pesto is so tasty that I just can’t keep myself from the quantitative heartbreak. In this case I kept my pesto thick to allow for many different applications: used on a pizza I prefer a more viscous, spreadable pesto, whereas if I am making a pasta dish, I would tend to thin it out a bit.
Whether it's on pasta, a pizza, a panini or even simply smeared on some bread, you can never go wrong with a beautiful pesto!
Lagniappe of the Day: Even though I know it's not traditional, I always like to add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to my basil pesto. I've found that my taste buds have changed over the years and I now tend to prefer things that offer a little pucker of acid.
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