Four Basil Pesto
Today I am home alone.
I forgot to have lunch and remembered only at 15:00.
When I walked into the kitchen, I was starving. I set out to make something fast and then suddenly it dawned on me – I was alone, the basil needed trimming and Boyfriend doesn’t like pesto.
It was a win-win moment, especially when I went to grab a few stems of basil and realised that we actually have four different varieties of basil!
Making pesto is easy and fast. The only things you have to really be careful about are the quality of the ingredients and the taste. Obviously, you’re going to say – but you’d be surprised how many people don’t taste their food before serving it!
This is what you need:
- Fresh basil (washed and dried)
- Olive oil
- Pecorino (parmesan will do, if you really really can’t find pecorino)
- Pine nuts
- Garlic
- Pepper
Put all the ingredients in a blender. If you don’t know the quantities, put 2 units of basil per 1 unit of pine nuts, 1 unit of pecorino. Put as little garlic as possible, a spoonful of oil and a generous grating of pepper.
Blend. Look at the sauce. Is it too lumpy? Add some more oil – not too much though. If it still stays too lumpy and not smooth like silk, don’t add any more oil but some of the water from the pasta your are cooking (because you are, right?).
Blend and taste. The idea for pesto is that no one ingredient overwhelms the others. Does it taste too basily? Add more pecorino and pine nuts. Is it too cheesy? Add more basil and pine nuts. Is it too bland? Add more pecorino. Etc.
As I said: easy and quick. Because now you’re all done and you just have to strain your pasta (al dente, please!) and enjoy!
3 Comments on “Four Basil Pesto”
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Together with Nicole Duplaix, Chair of the IUCN-SSC Otter Specialist Group , I wrote a book all about otters and how wonderful they are. Check it out We Love Otters
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I’ve been doing a lot of red pesto. I’d love one (or more) of your recipes.
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What recipes do you use for pesto?
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I’ve been doing dried tomato, piri piri chili peppers (at least until mine are ripe enough to use my own), a bit of garlic, oregano, salt, and a very little bit of parmesan (I learned the hard way that too much will ruin my pesto)
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