Ingredients:
- 1 large bunch of basil, leaves only, washed and dried
- 3 medium cloves of garlic
- one small handful of raw pine nuts
- roughly 3/4 Parmesan, loosely packed and FRESHLY GRATED
- A few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
Directions:
- Start chopping the garlic along with about 1/3 of the basil leaves.
- Once this is loosely chopped add more basil, chop some more, add the rest of the basil, chop some more. (scrape and chop, gather and chop)
- At this point the basil and garlic should be a very fine mince. Add about half the pine nuts, chop.
- Add the rest of the pine nuts, chop.
- Add half of the Parmesan, chop.
- Add the rest of the Parmesan, chop.
- In the end you want a chop so fine that you can press all the ingredients into a basil "cake"
- Transfer the pesto "cake" to a small bowl (not much bigger than the cake)
- Cover with a bit of olive oil, just a few tablespoons.
- You can thin the pesto with a splash of pasta water for more coverage but this is not necessary.
Makes:
- About 1 cup
Notes:
- One key to perfect pesto is chopping all the ingredients by hand, preferably with a sharp mezzaluna, knife or pizza cutter.
- The pesto will keep a bit in the refrigerator, but it really hits its peak when served soon after it is made.
- The technique here is: chop a bit, add some ingredients, chop some more. The reason for this (Instead of chopping everything at once) is because some things get chopped into oblivion, while some not as much-it encourages a spectrum of cut sizes throughout the contributing to the overall texture. Chopping should take twenty to thirty minutes.
- This recipe doesn't have any added salt (just the saltiness from the cheese), make sure your pasta water is well salted if you are going to use this pesto on pasta or the overall flavor profile will fall flat.
- Be sure to adjust the seasoning before serving.
