Liguria, a region along the Italian Mediterranean coast is where basil pesto finds its roots in the port city of Genoa. This delicious sauce made with the freshest, young, summer basil leaves can only come from the dreamy sexy Mediterranean Italian Rivera. Basil in Liguria is treated like royalty, delicately picked and hand ground in a specially made marble mortar into the most delicious pesto. Paired with pasta, gnocchi, chicken,, vegetables, seafood or fish it brings out the flavor without overpowering the dish.
Commercial pesto available in stores is made by machine, usually in a food processor even when made at homemade. Don’t get me wrong, I love the convenience, time, minimum effort of a food processor plus it tastes pretty decent, or at least thats what I thought until I had the real thing in Liguria, Italy. In the Ligurian pesto, basil is torn and hand processed/ground in a mortar, the result is slightly course pesto with every ingredient has a distinct flavor, yet cohesive and clings beautifully to the pasta. The pesto has a rich bright flavor with plenty of umami not the usually smooth paste with little to no definition between ingredients.
Tearing the leaves and grinding in a mortar the leaves release the natural juices and oils along with nuts, cheese and olive oil, the texture that sticks to pasta better, looks brighter, has flavor that you really don’t get in smooth blended pesto.
How Is Basil Pesto Made
- Basil Leaves: Sweet, grassy, glossy young bright green summer basil is ideal. If you have a little space try growing them. They’re fairly easy to grow in the summer in a partially sunny spots.
- Parmigiano-Reggiano: freshly grated Parmigiano is ideal, it takes a few seconds to grate, but makes a huge difference. Use the real Italian Parmigiano, if you can but domestic parmesan is fine.
- Extra virgin olive oil Use the best quality extra virgin olive oil you have, cold pressed e.v ideal—the flavor of the oil really shines through in this pesto, look for local, rich, grassy flavor. Living in the U.S I prefer local California olive oil.
- Garlic: freshly peeled is the best here. They lend a bite and add umami.
- Pine nuts: Nuts gives pesto its heft. Honestly I seldom use pine nuts in my cooking so I keep them frozen as they have a high fat content and can easily go rancid. Alternatively walnuts work well too. No need to toast them before adding.
How To Use Pesto:
- Pasta & Gnocchi is the most classic and obvious use. Cook the pasta of your choice until it’s al dente and toss with pesto, its that simple and most delicious use.
- Salad: toss it with some grilled chicken and add it to some salad. My chicken pesto salad is a blog and family favorite.
- Pizza & Sandwich: Spread some homemade pesto on a pizza base along with fresh mozzarella and your favorite toppings. Try our Pesto Pizza with artichokes and Arugula or try Pesto & Zucchini blossom Pizza
- My Pesto chicken bruschetta is a hearty meal made with grilled chicken, creamy burrata and sweet tomatoes, a delightful summer meal if you prefer a low-carb way to enjoy this pesto recipe.
- Soups: Amp up your vegetable soups and minestrone big time with a dollop of pesto here and here.
- Eggs: a spoonful of pesto into your eggs is the next level in scramble and omelette—Asparagus toast cheese omelette.
Classic Basil Pesto
- 4-5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed, torn by hand
- 3 fresh garlic cloves
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Regggiano
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino or Romano cheese
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed
- Add torn basil, pine nuts, garlic to a mortar and pestle or if you don’t have a mortar and pestle a food processor will do.
- Grind and blend until a rough paste is formed adding the remaining oil little by little. Once the leavers and finely minced and a rough paste is formed, add the cheeses and pound or pulse a couple of times until incorporated, don’t process further.
- Season with kosher salt (keep in mind cheese is salty) and fresh ground black pepper.
- Use right away or store the pesto in the fridge, adding a thin layer of olive oil to cover the top surface, preserve the freshness and to prevent the color from turning dark. The pesto also freezes well. Enjoy!
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