My way of making pesto is by taste. I'll give you the general outlines here, and you should experiment.
approx 2 cups of basil leaves, stems removed, washed and dried
approx ½ cup - 1 cup virgin olive oil
½ cup pine nuts or walnuts
1 cup + coarsely grated Parmesan or Roman cheese, the higher the quality, the better.
1-3 cloves of garlic
In a food processor, pour in enough oil to coat the bottom to ¼ inch deep.
Add in some of the basil leaves and process until roughly chopped
add more leaves, and drizzle some oil on top, process.
repeat until all the leaves are chopped.
toast nuts on the stovetop until fragrant, not burnt
add nuts, cheese, and 1 garlic clove, ( minced or crushed ) and process to desired consistency. You may have to add more olive oil.
Taste and adjust. You may want to add salt.
Pesto will keep a few days in the fridge, its best if the top has a covering of olive oil to keep it fresh. It tastes great on bread, even on corn.
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mary
Hi Eric,
Just some tips on pesto.
To keep it from turning brown too quickly, add some raw spinach leaves to the pesto and this will make it greener. I've also seen chefs quickly, and really quickly, blanch the pesto just til it turns brighter green, literally seconds, put it immediately in ice water, dry off and then use as usual. Also good idea to put a thin layer of olive oil on top of it in its container and this will help keep the color. Tho' a change in color doesn't mean anything..It's all still yummy, just aesthetics. Recently, at a class at the school, Chef Byer Alcorace made a pesto with toasted pistachios and basil. Yum.
Pat Murphy
Hi Eric -
I just found your website while searching for the Artisan Bread recipe -I love your it! It's very reassuring to know I am not the only person on the planet that has some unexpected results in ones cooking adventures!
Next time you make chicken soup add a dollop of pesto to it - you will not believe how good it is!
Pat