Perfect Pesto

 

   As many Sundays as we can, the hubby & I take our daughter to our local farmers market. A great little walk from our house.  It's a really good market and we always have our favorite vendors we like to check out. One of our absolute favorite vendors is a local farm that grows beautiful greens & herbs. We are OBSESSED with their arugula, I've never had anything so flavorful & peppery. This week they had a huge basket of fresh basil and Chris urged me to get it. I knew why....he wanted pesto!

  Pesto is something near & dear to my heart. It is one of my favorite condiments because of it's versatility and obviously amazing flavor! This is something I do really well. I like my pesto to POP with flavor. This is what I am looking for in MY pesto. Super fresh basil flavor, a little garlicky, nuttiness, saltiness and my favorite part- a super punch of citrusy lemon. Typically when I make this recipe I eyeball it. I know exactly how I want it to taste and I don't pay attention to how much of each ingredient I add. But just for you, I paid attention to what I was doing so I can help you recreate this PERFECT pesto!

Click HERE for my delish pesto pasta recipe

 Perfect Pesto (yields about 1 cup)

2 cups loosely packed basil
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 Tbs parmigiano reggiano
2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
Zest of half a lemon
Juice from 3/4 of a lemon
1/2 cup good olive oil (Extra virgin works great here!!)
Kosher salt & pepper

 One of the most important things when making pesto is to make sure you keep that vibrant green color. Here are the easiest way to screw that up is by bruising the basil before it enters the food processor, over processing the basil in the food processor (again, bruising it), cooking it too much.

 Let's avoid all 3, shall we? Here's how we avoid the first 2:

 If you are too lazy to wash another dish (like a cheese grater), throw your chunks of parmesan cheese into the food processor and pulse until it's nicely ground.   

 

Voila. Grated cheese. 

Throw in your garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice & pine nuts (please never use already chopped garlic ever, never, ever! Not for any recipe! That should be a general rule in cooking, period.)

Give it about 10 pulses so you give it a chance to break down. The less you have to blend the basil, the better. This just gives it a head start.

 Next up, the star of the show, basil. This perfumed the entire kitchen. I love the smell of fresh basil.

 Again, I try to prevent bruising so I slice up the basil a bit before it goes in to blend.

  To prevent bruising from slicing it, I have an amazing tip: Take the knife and have it touch the cutting board with the basil ready to slice underneath it. Drag your knife down to slice the basil in a quick "scissor" type motion. Do NOT press down when cutting basil, ever. It is the easiest way to bruise it. Don't ask me why, but this "scissoring" effect work every time. You will keep it perfectly green & intact.

 So add your basil, olive oil and season with some salt & pepper to the processor. 

PULSE, don't puree. Until you have your desired smoothness. Try not to blend too much. Now taste! Mine needed a touch more salt and it was perfection!

What to do with your perfect pesto?? There are so many options! Here are a few ideas including a yummy recipe here that I made for dinner tonight with it. :)

• Use by itself for sandwiches, pasta, on meats, spread on pizza
•  Fold into mac & cheese or rice
• Toss with roasted potatoes
• Add some mayo and make a fabulous spread for sandwiches
• Add mayo and a touch of milk and you have a great dressing for pasta salad
• Add sour cream and you have a great topping for a quesadilla
• Add some warm cream and toss with pasta for a pesto cream sauce

Have some fun!

 

Perfect Pesto (yields about 1 1/2 cups)

2 cups loosely packed basil
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 Tbs parmigiano reggiano
2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
Zest of half a lemon
Juice from 3/4 of a lemon
1/2 cup good olive oil (Extra virgin works great here!!)
Kosher salt & pepper

 One of the most important things when making pesto is to make sure you keep that vibrant green color. Here are the easiest way to screw that up is by bruising the basil before it enters the food processor, over processing the basil in the food processor (again, bruising it), and cooking it too much.

 Let's avoid all 3, shall we? Here's how we avoid the first 2:

 If you are too lazy to wash another dish (like a cheese grater), throw your chunks of parmesan cheese into the food processor and pulse until it's nicely ground.   

 Throw in your garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice & pine nuts (please never use already chopped garlic ever, never, ever! Not for any recipe! That should be a general rule in cooking, period.)

 Give it about 10 pulses so you give it a chance to break down. The less you have to blend the basil, the better. This just gives it a head start.

Next up, the basil.  Again, I try to prevent bruising so I slice up the basil a bit before it goes in to blend.

  To prevent bruising from slicing it, I have an amazing tip: Take the knife and have it touch the cutting board with the basil ready to slice underneath it. Drag your knife down to slice the basil in a quick "scissor" type motion. Do NOT press down when cutting basil, ever. It is the easiest way to bruise it. Don't ask me why, but this "scissoring" effect work every time. You will keep it perfectly green & intact.

 So add your basil, olive oil and season with some salt & pepper to the processor.  PULSE, don't puree. Until you have your desired smoothness. Try not to blend too much. Now taste! Adjust seasoning as needed. Enjoy!