One of my Nonna Bianca’s specialties was her fresh basil pesto. She usually served it with linguine pasta – and added a generous knob of butter – but any pasta shape is good. Alternatively, serve it with fresh gnocchi: the gnocchi and pesto go together extremely well. It is incredibly easy to make and so delicious, and freezes well, too.
Once you learn how to make it, you’ll probably never consider a shop bought jar again. If you don’t have pecorino cheese, just add one more tablespoon of Parmesan cheese instead.
Ingredients
Servings 4
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil plus extra for drizzling 80ml
- 1¾ oz fresh basil leaves 50g
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts 20g
- 1 small clove garlic peeled
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated pecorino cheese
- 4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Nutritional Facts
Nutrition Facts
Pesto all Genovese - Fresh Basil Pesto
Amount per Serving
Calories
223
% Daily Value*
Fat
23
g
35
%
Saturated Fat
4
g
25
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
4
g
Monounsaturated Fat
15
g
Cholesterol
6
mg
2
%
Sodium
249
mg
11
%
Potassium
80
mg
2
%
Carbohydrates
2
g
1
%
Fiber
0.4
g
2
%
Sugar
0.2
g
0
%
Protein
3
g
6
%
Vitamin A
704
IU
14
%
Vitamin C
3
mg
4
%
Calcium
82
mg
8
%
Iron
1
mg
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse a few times (be careful – you don’t want to overheat the blades and ‘cook’ the basil). Add more oil if it looks too dense, taste, and adjust the seasoning accordingly. You can also use a mortar and pestle, which is the traditional tool used to make pesto and results in a coarser mixture: crush the basil, garlic, pine nuts, and salt together in the mortar with the pestle, then gradually add the oil. Finally, stir in the cheese.
- To avoid the pesto oxidizing and becoming dark in color, as soon as it is ready, transfer it into a sterilized glass jar and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on top. Sealed, the pesto will be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days, or alternatively, it can be frozen in a freezer-proof container for up to 1 month.
Recipe and photo courtesy of Jewish Flavours of Italy Cookbook.
