Done by blender or food processor. I knew how much I liked this sauce when I realized I had included it in three of my five cookbooks. In Carol Guilford’s Main Course Cookbook, I wrote: “For centuries, Genoese cooks pounded the basil leaves in mortars, slowly incorporating droplets of oil into the herb, but...” In The Easiest Cookbook, I wrote: “Basil is an herb grown since ancient times; it was cultivated in the gardens of Babylon.
This latest is from The Gourmet’s Recession Cookbook . Yeah, I wish I could change the title, but the recipes are dynamite
and I hope you’ll buy it... Only 99 cents.
Come on, gang.
I wrote: “Fresh basil is the basis of this sumptuous sauce. I like it on fusilli (corkscrews/spirals—some
say the shape is really a helix) because the sauce sticks to the noodles.
Divine on cold poached salmon. To poach/steam the salmon I like to use a
collapsible steamer basket in a 4 quart saucepan. With about 2 inches of water
below the basket add the salmon and cover the pot. The late great James Beard’s
rule --any 1 inch piece of fish no matter how you cook it will be done in 10
minutes.
Agreeably pungent on a baked potato.
One cup pesto is enough for 1 pound pasta. Will keep in the fridge for 10 days. For new cooks, you are right--the sauce is
not cooked or heated!
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed down
½ cup olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
½ cup pine nuts (pignoli)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt.
1.
Wash the basil leaves with cold water.
Pat dry with paper towels.
Discard the stems.
2. Put all the ingredients into a blender or
food processor. Whirl or pulse until
well mixed. Pesto should have the
consistency of mayonnaise. Add a tad
more olive oil if it is too thick. Stir
before using, as the sauce darkens with exposure to the air.
Photos by Carol Guilford
