LadyMin's Garden

This is a light and tasty pesto recipe adapted from a few authentic Italian ones that I have tried.

Ingredients

• 1 small clove of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 36 basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon grated pecorino romano cheese
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Half pound of penne pasta

Preparation

Using a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic, salt and pine nuts. Don’t make a paste, just lightly crush. Using a knife with a sharp blade chop the basil and add to the mortar. Gradually add the cheese. Transfer to a mini food processor and add the oil. Pulse several time to mix the ingredients. Cook pasta to taste, drain and add pesto.

Makes 4 servings.

Tips and suggestions:

Use the basil leaves only, no stems; the younger the basil the better. Freshly picked basil is ideal. I have successfully frozen fresh basil in oil and it tastes fine used in this recipe; far better than the sad fresh basil available in the supermarket.

To toast pine nuts, use a small, dry pan. Put the heat on low and shake often for 3-5 minutes. You’ll notice a change in color when they are toasted. Careful, they burn easily. I’ve had to throw away (expensive) burned pine nuts a few times because I got distracted and they turned black.

Freshly grate the cheese rather than using the packaged pre-grated type. If you don’t like romano cheese you can use 2 tablespoons of parmesan, but the pecorino romano is what gives it a distinctive taste.

It is best to use a mortar and pestle. This prevents the ingredients from blending into one and becoming a paste. Tiny pieces of basil should separate and float in the oil (click on thumbnail pic to see how it should look).

Buon appetito!