While we were in Cinque Terre, we took a cooking class where we learned how to make fresh pesto. We had made pesto at home a time or two, but I was never really sure if I was doing it right. I kind of just threw everything together in a food processor and hoped for the best. My pesto didn’t taste terrible, but I always felt like it was missing something.
Since taking this pesto class in Italy, I have a much greater understanding of pesto and how to properly make it. My biggest takeaway from the class was that I was using way too much salt and not enough cheese. I also wasn’t using the right kinds of cheese. In the cooking class, we were able to compare a processed pesto versus a fresh pesto and the difference was night and day. It didn’t even taste like the same sauce! Basically, you should always be making a fresh pesto because it tastes ten times better than anything you will find in the store.
Follow along as I take you through the pesto making process. Trust me, it’s easier than you think!
What You’ll Need:
- Mortar and Pestle
- Medium Sized Mixing Bowl
- All ingredients listed below + ice cubes
Ingredients:
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 pinch of coarse sea salt
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T pine nuts
- 6 T grated parmesan cheese
- 4 T pecorino cheese
- 2 cups of basil leaves
Directions:
- Pick your basil leaves (2 cups) off the stem and place in a bowl. Cover the basil leaves with ice cubes.
- While the basil leaves are being chilled, place your garlic and a few grains of salt in a mortar. Begin to crush the garlic. Do this until it is reduced into a cream/paste.
- Rinse the basil leaves with a little water and pat them dry. They don’t need to be completely dry, but they shouldn’t be soaking wet.
- Once the basil leaves are mostly clean and dry, add them to the mortar with a pinch of salt. Start to crush the basil leaves in the mortar, turning the pestle from left to right. You will need to use a LOT of force to crush the basil leaves down into a paste.
- If the basil mixture starts to splash, you are done and you can stop crushing the basil. At this point, you should have a bright green liquid in the mortar.
- Add the pine nuts to the mixture and mix thoroughly.
- The final step is to add the cheese and olive oil. If it’s easier, you can add a little bit of cheese at a time so you can stir it more easily. Keep stirring the mixture until you have a smooth sauce. The consistency should be pretty thick, as you don’t want to have runny pesto sauce.
Visual Instructions:
Where to Use Pesto
Now that you created this amazing pesto sauce, you need to know what to do with it! There are so many recipes and ideas for how to use pesto, and there really isn’t a wrong way to use it. Honestly, you could eat it by the spoonful if you really wanted to (I’ve done this before). However, if you’re looking for a more complete meal involving pesto, here are a few ideas:
- Pesto Pasta/Zoodles
- Pesto Pizza
- Pesto Grilled Chicken
- Pesto Bruschetta
- Pesto as a spread on any sandwich
- Include pesto on a charcuterie board as a dipping sauce
I hope this post inspires you to make some pesto for your next meal. It is an amazing sauce full of so much flavor. I love that it’s so versatile when it comes to pairing pesto with different foods. Pesto is truly the ultimate crowd pleaser!
Have you made pesto before? If so, what are some of your favorite ways to use it? I’d love for you to drop a few recipe ideas in the comments below. Cheers!
Leave a Reply