Creamy Genovese Homemade Pesto Sauce
"I did promise I will come back with a really nice recipe for homemade pesto sauce and here it is this rustic and totally authentic Genovese one that will be guaranteed a regular in your fridge and your table from now on. Pesto sauce! Have you made it yet? Pesto is one of our absolute favourite, ultra, ultra-flavorful sauces, and it always seems and sounds so much more fancier than it really is especially when it comes to making it."
NotesPine nuts:
- Sicilian pine nuts are one of the best if you could find as well as Californian - if you do not have those pine nuts that are also quite pricey, try any other nuts such as walnuts, macadamia, almond.
- As cheese, only use a nice matured Parmigiana Reggiano or a Grano pandano (ideally a mix of those) and no other cheeses like a Pecorino or other cheeses if you want to keep that authentic taste.
- I was saying that the best way to make this sauce to try and not compromise the flavour, is by using a mortar with a wooden pestle but of course an electric food processor or a blender would also do the job.
It's the metal blade that spoils things a little but hey, I do understand we don't always find the time to do things the traditional way. It’s more time as well as more effort but for t his it is worth a try and worth the effort.
- Try and prepare this as fast as you can to avoid oxidation.
- If you’re not using it all at once and want to keep some for later, place the remaining sauce in an airtight jar and keep in the fridge for a maximum of two weeks.
Serves4
Cooking Time20 min
Ingredients
- 100 g fresh basil leaves and stalks
- 35 g pine nuts
- 40 g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese freshly grated
- 35 g Grana Pandano freshly grated
- 1 tbsp sea salt or pink Himalayan
- 3 tbsp olive oil good quality extra virgin
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 lemon juice
Instruction
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Wash thoroughly the basil leaves using only very cold water.
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Add the basil leaves and stalks to the mortar - use half if your mortar is smaller. Very gently, pretty carefully and quite slowly, crush the basil leaves for 3 minutes (1 min if using a food processor).
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Once the leaves are crushed, add the slightly crushed and chopped garlic, the pine nuts (or other nuts if you decide using different ones), salt, and the cheeses. Crush these using circular movements or whizz for another minute or so until it becomes a smooth creamy paste.
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While pounding using a light circular movement of the pestle or while whizzing add the olive oil which should be a good quality Extra Virgin Olive one.
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The source is now ready to use so enjoy it.