Pesto alla genovese

Homemade pesto

Here’s my first attempt at making pesto alla genovese from scratch. When we went to the supermarket today, I thought about having pesto and decided to pick up the few ingredients for this simple but tasty recipe. As I have said before, Italian food is best when it is simple and this is another example.

The ironic thing about this recipe is that when I first tasted pesto I absolutely didn’t like it.  That was in the US and when I came to Italy, it took me a long time to try pesto again.  Thankfully, after the first taste, I was convinced pesto was decent.

Pesto with fresh pasta

The traditional recipe uses a mortar and pestle but I did it the lazy way. I dumped everything into a plastic container and used a hand-blender. However, if I had a mortar and pestle, I would have used that.

Ingredients
50 grams basil leaves
½ cup extra virgin olive oil (100ml)
2 cloves of garlic
A pinch of sea salt
6 tablespoons – Grated Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
2 tablespoons – Grated Pecorino
1 tablespoon – Pine nuts

Directions
Put the basil leaves, garlic, sea salt, pine nuts, parmesan and pecorino in a food processor or plastic container if you are using a hand blender. Mix well then slowly add the olive oil until you get a creamy consistency.

Serves: 4 (or 600grams of pasta)

My tips: Using this recipe it had a strong garlic taste and I would reduce the garlic by half the next time  I make it.   Also, get a cup of water from the pot where the pasta is cooking and keep it aside.  When the pasta is cooked, mix the pesto with the pasta and if necessary add some of the water you had taken for the pot to get the right consistency as the pesto may be too creamy.