Fresh Homemade Pesto Recipe

My Pesto Recipe

 A few years ago, I purchased my first jar of pesto to help me get a rough idea on how its suppose to taste. To my surprise, I could hardly even taste the main ingredient, which is Basil. It was kind of embarrassing to think that some People/Companies will put anything on a shelf to sell to other people, just to make money. In this post, I share my recipe, with my secret ingredient that takes your normal pesto, to a whole new level.

Incase you’ve never head of pesto, it is an Italian originated sauce of crushed /creamed basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese and olive oil. This beautiful green looking sauce taste really fresh and couldn’t be any easier to prepare. To make this pesto recipe, you will need:

 

Ingredients: 

Basil (40 g) (2 packs)

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese  (20 g) (1⁄3 cup)

Pine nuts (26 g) (about 2 Tablespoons)

Extra virgin olive oil (45 ml) (1⁄4 cup)

Anchovy (2 fillets)

Garlic clove (1)

Black pepper

Procedure:

Make sure Basil is washed and padded dry with a clean kitchen napkin/towel.

In a food processor or a blender, put basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, black pepper to taste, garlic, Anchovy (my secret ingredient). It adds an extra flavor which I love, but if you are a vegetarian or simply don’t like anchovies, then just leave it out. Add 2 Tablespoons ( half ) of the extra virgin olive oil and process this for 10 seconds. Then gradually add the remaining half of the oil and continue processing for about 2 minutes or until you reach your desired texture. It can be coarse in texture or smooth. Personally, I prefer mine in the middle,not too coarse and not too smooth. Because parmesan cheese has salt in it, as well as the anchovies, I didn’t use any extra salt if you may have noticed. But if you like more salt, feel free to add some coarse salt as you wish.

Serve this vibrant, fresh tasting homemade pesto with some hot pasta, perfectly cooked fluffy Gnocchi, toast bread, or since food is all about exploring different taste, why not serve a steaming hot Potato goulash with a tablespoon of pesto.

Freshly made Pesto can be refrigerated for up to a week and can be frozen for up to 6 months. But my thought, why freeze something that is this easy to make.

I hope you give this recipe a try, and if you have tried a good store-bought pesto, let me know in the comment section.