Pesto
What is pesto?
- Pesto is Italian and it hails from Genoa, a sea port
- It's a thick sauce of pounded basil, parmesan, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil and it's great tossed through pasta, served on fish or atop a tomato salad.
- Home grown basil has a gutsier flavour than the bought hydroponically grown stuff. If you planted it before Christmas it should be abundant now.
- Pesto in France is pistou
BASIL PESTO
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
50g pine nuts
50g basil leaves (includes stem weight)
1/4 cup grated Italian Parmesan
1/2 cup light fruity virgin olive oil
Method
Put the garlic and pine nuts into a food processor and process until finely chopped. Tear the leaves from the basil and discard the steams. Add the parmesan and basil and gradually pour the olive oil down the feed tube until the mixture forms a thick paste. Keep in an airtight container
Cook's Tips
- Garlic - kiwi grown please, fresh not the paste which has a processed flavour here.
- Pine nuts - I like them toasted to add a warmer flavour - but whatever make sure they are fresh and not rancid. If you can look for New Zealand grown, pine nuts from Marlborough, New Zealand. These are fresh, ivory-coloured, have a satiny surface appearance and a crisp bite when you eat them. They are highly nutritious and keep well if stored in dark, dry and cool conditions. 200 grams will set u back $26.00! But they are worth it just once anyway.
- Parmesan - you need the real stuff, which is now readily available
- Basil - large juicy leaves, light washed and well-dried
- Olive Oil - if extra virgin is too strong in flavour, then blend with another lighter olive oil or a flavourless oil like canola.
- Making the pesto in a mortar and pestle will achieve a smoother blend that's thick with some grainy texture. In a food processer the pesto will be finely pureed and often runnier.
ASIAN PESTO
Another favourite of mine is a variation I made up for a book years ago is this Asian Pesto; it's magic with fish especially shell fish.
Ingredients
1 1/2 - 2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 - 1 tsp minced chilli
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup good peanut oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
Method
Put the basil, garlic, ginger, pine nuts, chilli, sesame oil, peanut oil, sugar, coriander and salt into a food processor and process until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Add a little more peanut oil if you have to.
Toss 500 grams prawns, scallops, or diced fish in the mixture and leave it to marinate in a covered container in the fridge for about 2 hours and bbq as kebabs! Delicious.
Serves 4
Cheers,
Allyson
