I’ve been making pesto lately. It’s so wonderful and fragrant and pretty and versatile! Here’s my basic recipe, but I’m imagining all the ways this could be tweaked & plan to try other variations in the future.
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped (or more, to taste)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil (somewhere in between… 1/2 is too much, but 1/4 might not be enough)
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Splash of lemon juice, optional
After washing and drying the basil, splash on a little lemon juice if you want to keep the pesto a brighter green.
Add basil and pine nuts to food processor and pulse until just chopped. Add garlic and pulse again.
Turn on processor and add olive oil in a thin stream. Stop when it reaches the consistency you like.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pulse some more until all blended. Add cheese and pulse again.
Add salt and pepper to taste — at this point I just stir it in as the pesto is at the perfect consistency.
I’ve used it on couscous (adding feta cheese and sun dried tomato for a cold dish) and, of course, it’s excellent on pasta. I’m thinking of trying this White Bean and Pesto Dip recipe from Epicurious next.
I also just read a blog entry by someone talking about chopping everything by hand, alternating ingredients so nothing gets too totally pulverized. DEFINITELY going to try that out sometime!
