Classic Italian Pesto Recipe

This pesto recipe will become one of your favorite sauces and can be used on pasta, potatoes, crostini, grilled shrimp, steaks and more. The quality of the ingredients in this recipe is crucial. Fresh basil is essential. High quality extra virgin olive oil is essential. Good Parmesan cheese, real Parmigiano-Reggiano, not "parmesan" from the green toilet paper tube, is also essential.

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Prep Time 15

Servings: 1 cup

Course: Sauces and Condiments

Cuisine: Italian

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

US CustomaryMetric

3 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup pine nuts
6 kalamata olives
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3 large garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

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Method

Prep. Remove the seeds from the olives. Coarsely chop the garlic first because blenders and food processors often don't do a good job on them.
Dump all the ingredients except the oil into a blender or food processor and let 'er rip until everything is chopped fine, but not homogeneous.
Slowly drizzle in the oil while the blades are on a low setting until, presto, pesto, you have a paste. The fragrance is heavenly. It can be kept in a tight jar in the fridge for a week before it starts to brown. If you need to keep it longer, top it with olive oil as a seal. Or freeze it. It freezes very well.

Notes

About the basil. A little Thai basil or mint instead of 1/2 cup of the basil adds depth and complexity, but don't use a lot.

About the pine nuts. Pine nuts have become obscenely expensive in recent years, especially the good ones from Italy, so you can substitute green pistachios, sunflower seeds, unsalted cashews, and blanched skinless almonds if you wish.

About the olives. The original Genovese recipe doesn't include olives, but I don't care. They taste great. There are many ways to make love and as many ways to make pesto.

About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.