Pesto

I can’t really give a coherent recipe for pesto; the best I can do is a set of notes based on the last two times I made it. All quantities are approximate (at best). Also, references are to the brands I use, the stores I shop at, and the equipment I have; your mileage will vary.

It’s easy enough to make a small batch of pesto but it does take time. My wife and I love this stuff so much that I find it easier to make one very large batch and freeze it. Sure, it takes me all day, but the reward is being able to have pesto all year long for only as much effort as it takes to carve off a hunk from the block in the freezer.

I like my pesto to be a very thick, rather coarse paste; I find it works best on a shaped pasta such as rotini. If you prefer something like linguini or spaghetti you can either use a lot more olive oil or mix the pesto with some of the pasta water to form a more liquid sauce before adding the pasta. You could also grate the cheese before adding it to the basil/garlic/nut mixture.

With all that in mind, here are my notes …

A case of basil from Russo’s contains 15 bunches; final yield of cleaned leaves ranges from 2½ to 4½ pounds.

To each pound of cleaned leaves add 12 ounces of romano cheese (in 1 inch cubes), 8 ounces of pine nuts, 20 large cloves of garlic, some kosher salt, and some (Marinella) olive oil.

Grind ~¾ cups nuts, ~7 cloves of garlic, and 1 tsp salt into a very coarse paste. Fill the bowl with basil, pour in a little oil, and run until the basil is all chopped; repeat this twice more. With the blades running, add ~¼ lb cheese a few chunks at a time. Pulse a few times, check the consistency, run some more; repeat. Taste, adjust and correct; repeat.

Try to get the quantity of garlic and nuts right the first time; once the cheese has been added the mixture gets thick and it’s hard to incorporate other ingredients. It’s all going to get mixed together in the end so if one batch isn’t perfect you probably won’t notice it in the end.

Freeze 2 pounds in a heavy-duty gallon Ziploc-type bag; flatten the contents and expel all the air before sealing. Lay bags flat until frozen.

My wife uses about 1¼ ounces of pesto for each 3 ounces of (dry) rotini; I prefer a bit more, but certainly less than 2 ounces (and I also make a larger serving of rotini, about 4 to 5 ounces). Other shapes will probably need a different quantity of pesto.