Pesto Genovese Sauce

Pesto Genovese is a staple sauce of Genoese cuisine. Pesto is made by chopping and grinding fresh basil leaves adding pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and grated cheese.

The best cheeses for this sauce are Parmesan, Grana Padano, Pecorino Sardo or Pecorino Romano. This sauce recipe originated in Liguria in the nineteenth century, but it might have been a version of earlier traditional Ligurian sauces.

In the past, all the ingredients of this sauce were pounded in marble mortars by a marble pestle. But even in modern Italy housewives sometimes will use this method. Of course, with today’s food processors, our task is simpler.

Pesto’s ingredients marry well and compliment each other to create a superior and delicate taste. It is the best sauce imaginable for pasta, fish, gnocchi and what not. You can make crispy crostini and bruscetti with this sauce. While enjoying the taste, we get many useful substances this sauce is rich with. There is no thermal treatment involved, so all vitamins are preserved.

Ingredients for Pesto Genovese Sauce

50-60 g Parmesan cheese
100-150 g basil leaves
3-4 garlic cloves
½ cup (150 ml) olive oil
30-40 g pine nuts
Salt to taste

Recipe of Pesto Genovese Sauce

• Sort out basil leaves and wash good ones.
• Pat dry with paper towels.
• Try not to damage leaves before putting them in a blender to avoid oxidation.
• Turn the blender on the lowest speed to ensure the sauce is not overheated.
• Put the basil leaves and peeled garlic cloves in the blender.
• Add finely grated Parmesan and olive oil.
• Blend the mixture slowly, switching the blender off occasionally to ensure the sauce is not overheated.
• When the mixture gets paste-like, add pine nuts and salt to taste.
• Keep blending until silky paste.
• To store the pesto, pour into a glass jar.
• Jam until a layer of oil on top and cover.
• Refrigerate up to 10-15 days and use as needed.