Pesto is a popular sauce worldwide, and Italy is its homeland, namely Genoa. There it is prepared exclusively from green basil and olive oil of the first pressing, fragrant and with slight bitterness. There is also a variant of red pesto in which, in addition to the main ingredients, add dried tomatoes. In different countries this sauce has its own national differences, for example, in Germany it is prepared with the addition of wild garlic, and in Austria the pine nuts are changed to pumpkin seeds. Actually, the original recipe uses not even pine nuts, but pine nuts. These are the closest relatives and tastes of them practically do not differ. And even more so with the fragrant products like basil, garlic and olive oil, the difference will not be noticed even by the most sophisticated gourmet. So, how to make a pesto sauce recipe ideal and with what it is eaten, these and other questions you will get answers in this article.
How to cook a classic green pesto sauce with basil
This is a truly unique sauce, because It is easily suitable for fish and meat dishes, salads and spaghetti, with it prepare pasta, soups and sandwiches. And while it is very useful because the main ingredients are basil and high-quality extra virgin olive oil, as well as cedar nuts.
Ingredients:
- basil - 150 g;
- olive oil - 120 ml;
- Parmesan cheese - 80 g;
- Pecorino sweet cheese - 50 g;
- pine nuts - 45 g;
- garlic - 1 tooth;
- salt.
Preparation
For sauce from basil, only leaves are taken, stems are not used. Prepare the easiest way with a blender, so we throw the basil leaves in a bowl, add a half of the oil, so that the greens are best grinded and crushed. Nuts slightly fry in a dry frying pan - a maximum of 30 seconds on each side. We throw nuts and garlic to the basil, cheese is rubbed on the smallest grater, because it is very hard and if the pieces are large there is a variant of that they do not grind properly. We add oil, salt and all this is ground into a homogeneous mass. Consistency can be adjusted, because some like a perfectly homogeneous sauce, and others grind simply into small crumbs. With salt you need to be careful, because The cheese itself is already salty.
This sauce can be stored for a very long time in the refrigerator in a closed jar, especially if you top up with a small amount of olive oil. Thus, a film is created, the air does not enter the sauce and it does not deteriorate.
The recipe for pesto sauce at home
Of course, the recipe for classic pesto has already been tested for years and is considered the base sauce. But the ingredients that make up it are quite expensive, and not all have the opportunity to purchase them. Therefore, we offer a little experiment with food and prepare homemade pesto, no less delicious than classic pesto. The only thing that should not be replaced in a sauce is cheese. It should be just such a very hard and rich taste like parmesan, it can be cheddar, gruyer or grana padano.
Ingredients:
- cashew nuts - 100 g;
- spinach - 60 g;
- celery - 60 g;
- parsley - 30 g;
- arugula - 60 g;
- mint - 20 g;
- lemon juice - 15 ml;
- garlic - 2 teeth;
- olive oil - 200 ml;
- Parmesan - 100 g;
- salt.
Preparation
All my greenery and dried. The combination and quantity of it is chosen to your taste, you can add cilantro, if anyone likes. Hard stems should be removed as much as possible. Grind all the herbs in a blender or with an immersion blender, add all the other ingredients (except cheese) and 2/3 of the butter. Why not all the oil at once? In order not to miss with a consistency, it is better to add more. Once the mass has become more or less uniform, pour finely grated cheese, if you need oil and do just a few more turns. The sauce is ready!