I thought I knew pesto, knew its shades and its depth and its mouth-feel. I thought I understood how pesto was made, the simple stuffing of fresh basil into one’s blender or food processor, the olive oil raining over it like liquid gold, the toasted pine nuts, the parmesan. My pesto wasn’t anything fancy, but it was confident. Until one night when I started reminiscing about pesto in Italy.
Pesto in Italia was nothing like pesto in America. Italian pesto was bright and full of some kind of culinary buoyancy of which my stolid American variety knew nothing. On said evening, I got fed up with my heavy pesto and turned to the source of all wisdom: Google. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen: I Googled “Italian pesto”.
And what a treasure trove did I uncover. I learned, for example, that traditional Italian, or Ligurian, pesto, is made by blanching the basil leaves before blending, which keeps them a bright green even when blended. And that you add the olive oil after the other ingredients are already blended.
I learned that I was using WAY too much garlic, and that I never, ever, should have tried to mimic the levity of good olive oil with the acid of lemon. I learned, in short, that I was making pesto all wrong.
And I’m here to right the wrong in your pesto-making ways, right here and right now. One final word to the wise, before we get to the recipe: Use a great olive oil. California’s terrain is ideal for growing a brilliant olive fruit, and I’ve been lucky enough to have Ben and Evan’s Other Brother Olive Oil on hand. These two Cali boys are the sweetest, and you can find their gorgeous oils at many grocery stores and bespoke boutiques, as well as on their beautiful website.
They also make really dope drawings of themselves as animals (see below).
And now, I present: Life-Changing Pesto. (No peas involved, in case the pics confuse ya—there’s a recipe coming Thursday that uses them, though!)
Nota bene: The gorgeous utensils here are made by Mepra Flatware, and I. Am. Obsessed. I will use nothing else on my table ever. Find them online.
LIFE-CHANGING PESTO.
Ingredients
- 8-10 cups loosely packed of fresh basil leaves
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ tablespoons pine nuts
- ¼ cup olive oil preferably Other Brother!
Instructions
- Boil at least 3-4 inches of purified water in a large stock pot. While the water comes to a boil, set up a colander in your sink, directly under the faucet.
- Once boiling, submerge basil leaves in water for about 15 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to colander. Rinse with the coldest water you’ve got, until the leaves are chilled. Then squeeze out all the water. You’ll have about a half cup of blanched basil leaves.
- Blend or process the blanched basil, garlic, pine nuts, and grated parmesan in a blender or food processor. Add some of the blanching water a teaspoon at a time, if need be.
- When the pesto reaches your desired consistency, 2-3 minutes, remove from the mixer and place in a bowl. Stir in ¼ cup olive oil, or more if desired.
