This versatile favorite is delicious on top of your favorite pasta, gnocchi, or soup. Or simply enjoy it spread across a crusty slice of bread.
Most modern recipes, including this one, call for making pesto with a food processor to combine the ingredients. This method works well, but produces a very homogenized final result.
For a more traditional approach, try hand-chopping the individual ingredients. The individual components that make up this recipe will be less uniform, resulting in more distinct individual flavors among bites.
Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil, loosely packed
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
2 – 4 garlic cloves, peeled (amount based on personal taste and strength of garlic variety used).
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons really good extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
- Remove basil leaves from stems, then wash and pat dry.
- Add basil, pine nuts, peeled garlic gloves and Parmesan cheese to food processor or blender.
- Quickly pulse until barely combined, then add 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil and blend thoroughly.
- Add remaining olive oil and/or additional grated Parmesan cheese to achieve the desired consistency.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
