A simple recipe to make, with only 7 ingredients which, however, contain all the essence of Ligurian cuisine. The Genoese and the more experienced ones would go “by eye” and according to their own experience, instead we offer you the right ingredients and doses to celebrate the goodness of Genoese Pesto even in your home. The “green” sauce will surely be the star of your tables.
INGREDIENTS FOR 2 PEOPLE
- ½ clove of Vessalico garlic (without core)
- 8 g Pine nuts
- 25 g Genoese PDO basil with small leaves
- 50 ml Taggiasco oil
- 1 pinch Salt
- 15 g Sardinian pecorino cheese
- 35 g Parmesan aged 24 months
There is no perfect recipe for Genoese Pesto. There is a rule on the type and quality of ingredients and there is good pesto, where good depends, as always, on the taste of those who prepare and taste it.
TOOLS
- marble mortar
- wooden pestle
- compact wood such as pear wood
Good pesto is prepared with simple “rules”: the right sequence of ingredients, the dexterity of the preparation and above all…. not using the blender to mix the ingredients.
The preparation begins by pounding, by hand and in a mortar, the pine nuts with the garlic deprived of its soul to create a floury mixture. Then add the basil leaves previously deprived of their stem and a pinch of salt. Continue pounding the ingredients in the mortar until the basil leaves are bruised and a cream has formed.
At this point you can add the Parmesan, pecorino and Taggiasco oil, mixing everything. We proceed by pounding the mixture again in the mortar until a homogeneous sauce is obtained. If necessary, add more oil being careful not to overdo the quantity.
The Genoese Pesto will thus be ready to be the protagonist together with a plate of pasta, lasagna or enjoying it directly on a good crouton. Our advice is not to heat the sauce but use it cold, to keep its properties unaltered.
