Recipe by Daniel Gritzer/ Serious Eats
Time: 30 minutes / Servings: 4
Use this traditional Pesto alla Genovese (Genoa-style pesto) recipe as a departure point to make your own pestos with a variety of farm-fresh ingredients!
Ingredients:
- 2 medium cloves garlic
- 2 Tbsp pine nuts
- About 4 cups basil leaves
- Coarse sea salt, as needed
- 2 Tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 2 Tbsp Pecorino Fiore Sardo*
- ¾ cup mildly flavored extra-virgin olive oil
*If you can’t find Pecorino Fiore Sardo, you can use Pecorino Romano instead, but increase the Parmigiano-Reggiano to 3 Tbsp, and cut the pecorino to 1 Tbsp.
Directions (food processor):
- Pulse the garlic, salt, and pine nuts together first, then add the cheese and follow with the basil; stir in the oil.
Directions (mortar & pestle):
- Pound the garlic to a paste.
- Add pine nuts and continue to crush with pestle, smashing and grinding them, until a sticky, only slightly chunky, beige paste forms.
- Add basil leaves a handful at a time and pound and grind against the walls of the mortar. Add pinch of salt with each handful to act as an abrasive. Continue until all basil leaves have been crushed to fine bits.
- Add both cheeses, then slowly drizzle in olive oil, working it into the pesto with the pestle until a fairly smooth, creamy, emulsified sauce forms. Add more oil, if desired.
VQ notes: There are so many kinds of pesto you can make! Here are some suggestions for substitutes:
- instead of basil: garlic scapes (if so, leave out the garlic), radish tops, carrot tops, other herbs or greens—or some combination of the above!
- instead of pine nuts: walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds—or simply omit for a smoother pesto
- try brand-new combinations like cilantro + pepitas + lime zest/juice (see the Flavor Bible section for more ideas!