To make pesto, pulse two packed cups of basil leaves with a third of a cup of toasted pine nuts, one garlic clove, and half a cup of grated parmesan, streaming in half a cup of olive oil until you have a coarse, bright-green paste. Season with salt and never cook it.
What is pesto?
Pesto means pounded, from the same root as pestle, and the name is the whole technique. In Genoa it is made in a marble mortar: garlic and salt crushed to cream, basil bruised leaf by leaf against the stone, nuts and cheese worked in, oil last. The mortar tears the leaves and coaxes the oils out slowly, which is why mortar pesto tastes rounder than anything from a machine.
The food processor version is legitimate weeknight cooking, it just needs restraint. Pulse, do not puree. A processor run too long heats the basil, bruises it brown, and turns perfume into grass clippings. You want a coarse paste with visible flecks, loose enough to fall off a spoon.
What goes in pesto?
- ·2 packed cups fresh basil leaves (about 2 large bunches)
- ·1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ·1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
- ·1/2 cup finely grated parmesan
- ·1 garlic clove
- ·1/4 tsp coarse salt, plus more to taste
Two packed cups of leaves to half a cup of oil is the spine, with nuts and cheese at roughly a third and a half cup. Everything else is adjustable: more garlic if it is for bread, more oil if it is for pasta, more cheese if it is for spoons.
How do you make pesto?
- Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over medium heat, two to three minutes, shaking constantly. Cool them fully.
- Pulse the garlic, salt, and pine nuts a few times until coarsely ground.
- Add the basil in two batches, pulsing three or four times per batch, scraping down the sides.
- Stream in the olive oil with the machine on its lowest setting, stopping the moment it comes together.
- Stir in the parmesan by hand. The machine makes it gluey.
- Taste for salt. Use immediately, or film the top with oil and refrigerate up to four days.
What should you know before making pesto?
- Never heat pesto. Toss it with hot drained pasta off the stove, loosened with a spoonful of pasta water.
- A sheet of plastic pressed on the surface, or a film of oil, keeps the top from oxidizing brown in the fridge.
- It freezes beautifully in ice-cube trays. Freeze without the cheese and stir it in after thawing.
Where did pesto come from?
Basil pesto is Ligurian, formalized in Genoa in the middle of the nineteenth century, though pounded herb-and-garlic sauces on that coast are older than the written record. The marble mortar and wooden pestle remain the point of local pride.
What can you make from pesto?
Common questions.
Can I make pesto without pine nuts?
Yes. Walnuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds all work at the same ratio. Toast whatever you use. Skipping nuts entirely also works, add an extra spoonful of parmesan for body.
Why did my pesto turn brown?
Oxidation, heat, or both. Blanching the basil for five seconds sets the color for make-ahead batches, and a film of oil on the surface protects it in the fridge.
Is pesto supposed to be cooked?
No. Heat kills the basil perfume and splits the oil. It goes on hot food, it never goes over a flame.