Last year, I complained that my pesto plant (basil) was too wimpy. It barely grew at all. This year, it’s the size of a small bush! So, I am madly making pesto. If you’re thinking, “I’ll just buy the jarred stuff,” I understand. But the difference in flavour and freshness is discernible. Make one batch and you’ll see.
RECIPE: Pesto
Ingredients
2 cups (500 ml) loosely packed fresh basil leaves
3 tbsp (60 ml) pine nuts
1 clove garlic, peeled
¼ tsp (1 ml) salt
½ cup (125 ml) Parmesan, fresh grated
¼- ½ cup (60-125 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
It’s well worth mentioning that pesto not only makes a quick, healthy meal tossed with pasta, but can also be used as a spread, added to low-fat sour cream for a quick dip, and even used as a sauce on fish. Perfectly versatile at a time of year when we’re all trying to get the family back into a quicker groove! There’s effort, but it will pay off.
You’ll need about 2 cups basil leaves (lightly packed). Rinse and dry them.
Measure 3 tbsp of pine nuts (leave these out of the recipe if you want to go nut-free), 1 large garlic clove, ½ cup fresh grated Parmesan and ¼ tsp salt.
Put the basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic and salt into a food processor; pulse until smooth.
Add the grated Parmesan, in two batches; keep buzzing till it is incorporated.
Add ¼-½ cup olive oil, in a slow drizzle, while you mix. Stop when the pesto is the consistency you desire. Taste and season again if needed.
The pesto will keep in the fridge for at least one week; if you double the batch, you can freeze a bit for some fresh summer flavour come mid-winter.
RECIPE: Pesto
Ingredients
2 cups (500 ml) loosely packed fresh basil leaves
3 tbsp (60 ml) pine nuts
1 clove garlic, peeled
¼ tsp (1 ml) salt
½ cup (125 ml) Parmesan, fresh grated
¼- ½ cup (60-125 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
1. In a food processor, add basil leaves, pine nuts, salt and garlic. Mix until you have a paste.
2. Add Parmesan, in two batches, and combine.
3. Add oil, in a trickle, until you reach the desired consistency.
Sue Riedl is a Toronto-based food writer with a passion for cheese who writes a column called The Spread for The Globe and Mail. She loves to push stinky cheese on her 3-year-old.
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by Sue Riedl