Photos of Pesto by Mario
Pesto, pesto, pesto, what would we do without you?
It has such a vast variety of use – salad dressing, pasta sauce, spread for toast or even as a stand-alone dip on the side! There are so many variations and different recipes of pesto out there and to be fair, there is a very good reason for that…
The name ‘pesto’ comes from the word pestâ, which means ‘to pound, to crush’ and traditionally the ingredients should be pound together in pestle and mortar… So basically, Pesto is a name for anything that is made by pounding! However I’m going to keep it traditional here for a moment. Let me show you my recipe for a traditional Pesto Alla Genovese, but first…
Fun fact!
The origin of Pesto dates back as far as the Roman age, but did you know that basil, nowadays known as the main ingredient, was introduced to the recipe relatively recently, in the mid-19th century. Before then, Marjoram and Parsley were used.
Now, let’s get pounding…
TRADITIONAL PESTO ALLA GENOVESE
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Recipe by Mario
INGREDIENTS
- 30 g Pine nuts
- 20 g Garlic (roughly 4 large cloves of garlic)
- 30 g Finely grated Parmesan
- 18 g Fresh basil
- 120 ml olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
- Crush and pound garlic and pine nuts in pestle and mortar until smooth paste.
- Add basil, Parmesan and olive oil and keep pounding until all ingredients are combined together with a rough, grainy texture.
NOTES
- Use basil leaves only, because the stalks would give pesto a bitter flavour.
- If you want to turn pesto into a sauce for pasta or a salad dressing, just dilute it with some more olive oil – just use as little or as much as you want.
- You can swop basil for a different soft leaf herb or even salad leaves, such as rocket salad.
