Pesto
Pasta sauces are an easy and tasty solution to lunches and dinners. A lot of times, we buy pasta sauce instead of making it because we think they're complicated and take a long time. It's not the case! Pesto takes 15 minutes to make and it tastes so much better than the prepackaged one. Give it a try!
Recipe:
160 gr fresh basil leaves*
70 gr grated Pecorino romano
60 gr grated Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves
150 gr extra virgin olive oil (EVO)
70 gr pine nuts
salt, to taste
Wash, remove stems and pat dry the basil leaves. Place half of the basil leaves in a mixer, add pine nuts and EVO: pulse a few times. Add the rest of the basil leaves, crushed garlic and the grated cheeses. Mix on high speed for 15 seconds. Take a look and see if you need to pulse more. Do it in 15 seconds intervals (so that the basil leaves don't turn dark) until you have the desired consistency.
The more you mix, the creamier pesto will be. The less you mix, it will keep a crunch and will have more of a "rustic" feel to it. Mix to your preference.
Tips:
* I would suggest you buy 320 gr of basil, because once you remove the stems, the weight is going to be around 160 gr or basil leaves.
- If you don't like garlic, you can omit it.
- If you don't have pine nuts, you can substitute them with almonds (remove skin first).
- You can store unused pesto in the fridge in a glass jar up to a week. Cover pesto with a layer of olive oil.
- You can also place pesto in an ice cube tray and have mini-portions ready for later. Just remove pesto from the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the fridge overnight.
