Pesto. Such a simple concoction of nature's herbaceous bounty with a plethora of uses and as many variations as there are herbs under the sun. But what is pesto, really? And where did it come from?
Ah, the trusty Wikipedia (provided no followers of Palin or Bachmann have come by to edit the page) tells us thusly:
Pesto is a sauce originating in Genoa in the Liguria region of northern Italy (pesto alla genovese), and traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil and nuts blended with olive oil and cheese. The name is the contracted past participle of the Genoese word pestâ (Italian: pestare), which means to pound, to crush, in reference to the original method of preparation, with marble mortar and wooden pestle.
The ancient Romans ate a cheese spread called moretum, which may sometimes have been made with basil. The herb likely originated in North Africa; however, it was first domesticated in India. Basil took the firmest root in the regions of Liguria, Italy and Provence, France. The Ligurians around Genoa took the dish and adapted it, using a combination of basil, crushed garlic, grated hard cheese (a mix of parmigiano-reggiano and pecorino or just one of the two), and pine nuts with a little olive oil to form pesto. In French Provence, the dish evolved into the modern pistou, a combination of basil, parsley, crushed garlic, and grated cheese (optional). However, pine nuts are not included.
In 1944, The New York Times mentioned an imported canned pesto paste. In 1946, Sunset magazine published a pesto recipe by Angelo Pellegrini. Pesto did not become popular in North America until the 1980s and 1990s.
Ok, enough of the geeky food history! On to the recipes!
Pesto is nothing new to us regulars here at WFD. As a matter of fact, the reason I decided to do this diary is because of some comments in this WFD diary from back in May of 2010. Discussing pesto and the numerous variations, someone said it could be a diary unto itself. Well, it's been a little over a year and I decided it was time to do just that!
Let's start with the classic, Pesto alla Genovese, the one we are most familiar with. A simple google search will yield recipes galore but it all comes down to this: basil, pine nuts, garlic, cheese and olive oil. As a lovely entry over at Foodess puts it, the best guide to making pesto is the "rule of threes".
3 cups of basil, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/3 cup nuts, 1/3 cup parmigiano reggiano, 1/3 cup oil – and adjust from there.
Now the easiest part is that you can just throw the basil, garlic cloves, pinenuts and cheese into your food processor and give it a whirl then stream in the olive oil until you get the consistency you desire. But what if you don't have a food processor or blender? I mean, they've been making pesto long before those things existed, right? Well you could go with a mortar & pestle and be truly authentic but I like the knife method. I'll let the wonderful Heidi Swanson of
101 Cookbooks tell us more about this in her wonderful blog post
How to Make Pesto Like an Italian Grandmother
The technique here is: chop a bit, add some ingredients, chop some more.
Start chopping the garlic along with about 1/3 of the basil leaves. Once this is loosely chopped add more basil, chop some more, add the rest of the basil, chop some more. I scrape and chop, gather and chop. At this point the basil and garlic should be a very fine mince. Add about half the pine nuts, chop. Add the rest of the pine nuts, chop. Add half of the Parmesan, chop. Add the rest of the Parmesan, and chop. In the end you want a chop so fine that you can press all the ingredients into a basil "cake". Transfer the pesto "cake" to a small bowl (not much bigger than the cake). Cover with a bit of olive oil, it doesn't take much, just a few tablespoons.
Doesn't that sound lovely and rustic? You can put this in the fridge until your pasta (or chicken or whatever you want to put it on) is ready and then dip a spoon into the lusciousness to dollop on your dish. As you drag the spoon into and out of the bowl you will mix the oil into the pesto "cake".
So that is the traditional, let's explore some variations. There are many leafy greens and herbs that make delicious pestos. In a previous What's for Dinner? (Meatless Wonders) I mentioned Parsley and Walnut Pesto. While in that instance it was a topping on a polenta "pizza" it would be wonderful on pasta, steaks, potatoes etc.
Parsley & Walnut Pesto
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup of fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup of toasted walnuts
2 tblsp of lemon juice
2-4 tblsp of olive oil for desired consistency
salt & pepper to taste
If you have a food processor this is all very easy. Drop in the garlic cloves and process until minced. Add the walnuts, parsley, lemon juice and a couple tablespoons of olive oil and process until finely minced and blended. Add more olive oil as needed to reach your desired consistency.
I do not have a "food pro" so I did it by hand, using a ziploc baggie and a meat mallet to crush up the walnuts, mincing the garlic and parsley by hand then blending it all together in a bowl. Then give it a taste and add salt & pepper as needed
Now let's talk cilantro! I have seen a number of cilantro pesto recipes that are very similar to the above recipe as it is often inexpensive (like parsley) and walnuts are much cheaper than pine nuts. Here's a look at my cilantro pesto:
Start by chopping 2-3 cloves of garlic and a large handful (about 2 cups) of fresh cilantro. Chop then scrape, chop and gather, repeat until you have a good mince. Add a handful of walnuts and chop, scrape, etc. Add about 1/3 cup of finely shredded or grated cheese. I used an aged Kasseri but Romano or Parmigiano would be good too. Of course you can leave out the cheese if you prefer. Continue the chop, scrape, chop, gather process to incorporate the cheese into the mix. When the mixture is thoroughly minced together you can mound it up on your board and then transfer it to a bowl. Then add the freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime and stir. Finally add about 1/3 cup of olive oil and taste for seasoning. I added a good pinch of kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper to mine but if you use Romano or Parmigiano cheese you may not need the extra salt.
I served this luscious cilantro pesto on top of some grilled flatiron steaks and roasted baby yellow potatoes.
My next pesto adventure is to make a scallion pesto. I'm thinking I will pair it with some soy marinated chicken thighs, rice and some sauteed zucchini. I had hoped to do it before I put this diary together so I could take pictures and share but, alas, that did not work out.
There are so many other variations on pesto:
Linguine with pea pesto
Polenta steaks with asparagus pesto, cherry tomatoes and burrata
5 Fresh and healthy pesto recipes
However I will address the "what to do with the leftovers" question.
Pesto freezes well. So if you make a big batch it's ok. Here's a great way to a save your summer bounty for the winter: