Basil Pesto
Ingredients:
2 cups of fresh basil leaves
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
1 garlic clove
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
2/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a food processor, pulse the basil until finely chopped. Add a clove of garlic to the food processor and pulse together.
Take the ¼ cup of pine nuts and put them in a small pan over medium low heat. You want to toast the pine nuts which only take a few minutes. Be sure to shake the pan to prevent sticking and therefore burning. Once you have achieved a golden color, the pine nuts can be removed from the pan.
Blend the pine nuts and olive oil in the food processor with the basil and garlic. Remove from the food processor and put into a bowl. Grate about 2/3 cup of Parmesan cheese and mix it into the basil mixture.
Unfortunately, due to technical errors the sound on the video doesn’t work. I pointed out a few fun cooking facts. One is that you can mix the cheese into the food processor if you like but the heat from the blades changes the texture and flavor of the cheese. I prefer to add it after.
I also discussed that the word pesto comes from the latin for pound. This came from the times that you would make pesto in a mortar and pestle. This means that you can make many types of pesto. Basil is the most common but when traveling, I have seen sundried tomato, spinach, citrus basil, and even mint pesto.
The video still has tons of instruction even though you can’t hear me.
By: Racheal E, Harvard
Emily P has 76 post(s) on RTR On Campus
