Pesto alla genovese
Basil ground with garlic and pine nuts. No heat and no blender — a mortar and a cool room.
Ingredients
For 4 servings · tick what is ready
Use the scaled ingredient list. Steps and temperatures stay unchanged; use a larger pan or dish if needed. Seasonings to taste stay to taste.
How to make it
Wash the basil and dry it completely: any water stops the oil binding to the leaves. Chill the mortar and pestle in the fridge.
Pound the garlic with the coarse salt to a paste. The salt works as an abrasive; without it the garlic just slides around.
Add the pine nuts and work them to a cream, then add the basil a handful at a time. The movement is a pressing circle rather than a pounding: the leaves are crushed against the wall, not smashed.
Work in both cheeses, then trickle the oil in while still grinding. The sauce should come together thick and even.
About this recipe
By UniTools · Source: UniTools — theunitools.com. Recipe content available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Ɱ · CC BY-SA 3.0