It amazes me how a recipe from long ago and far away arrives in our cookbooks and kitchens. I’m thinking specifically about basil pesto.
I recently made a few jars from the last of the basil growing in our backyard. Basil pesto is one of my favourite sauces. It’s so aromatic, fresh and flavourful. I’m in love with its vibrant green colour too.
You can find pesto in the deli section of most grocery stores and there are shelf friendly versions too. But the store bought stuff often morphs into a greenish brown colour, which I find quite unappealing. For me, basil pesto is best homemade and eaten straight away.
It’s easy to make, requires no cooking and is freezer friendly. All you need are a handful of high quality ingredients - fresh basil, good olive oil, nuts and garlic - and a method to blend them together into a loose sauce.
This basil recipe takes its form from a recipe in mid-nineteenth century Italy created to showcase the singular flavour of the basil growing on hillsides that meet the sea in the Italian Riviera.
More than 150 years later recipes for basil pesto abound, certainly here in North America, although it only became popular here in the eighties and nineties. “Pesto is the quiche of the eighties,” wrote Nora Ephron in the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally, which is so true.
Blend your ingredients with a food processor or blender. Or make it like an Italian grandmother and blend the ingredients using a mortar and pestle, which is how it was originally made. I’ve never tried this method but many say pesto made this way is the absolute best.
Pine nuts appear in most recipes for basil pesto today but the original called for fresh walnuts, which are usually my first choice too.
I keep my version vegan but it’s common and traditional to add cheese. To this recipe you would add about 1/3 cup of grated parmesan, stirring it in by hand after you’ve blended all the other ingredients.
Easy vegan basil pesto
4 cups basil leaves
1/3 cup walnuts (you can also use pine nuts, cashews, almonds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
Rinse and dry your basil leaves.
Place all the ingredients in food processor or blender and pulse the machine, frequently stirring down the mixture. Blend until a loose sauce forms. Try not to over blend as the heat discolours the vibrant green of the basil.
Tips!
To slow oxidation and discolouration pour pesto into a jar and then add a generous film of oil to cover the surface. It should stay green and flavourful for a week or two in the fridge.
Overloaded with pesto (what a great problem!) and need a longer-term storage idea? Freeze pesto in small airtight containers or in ice cube trays. The pesto won’t retain its beautiful bright green colour after defrosting but still a great way to enjoy pesto in the days and weeks ahead.
Basil pesto is great with pasta. Remember to mix a small ladle of cooking water into the pesto just before adding the noodles. This dilutes the concentrated sauce and helps adhere it to the pasta.
You can skip the the nuts if allergies are an issue or use seeds instead. They work just as well.
I use pesto in place of mayonnaise in a sandwich. It’s also wonderful in this recipe, one of my favourites from the archives. But trust me, once you have a jar or two on hand uses for it will suggest themselves.
