Is there anything you can't have with pasta pesto sauce?
This simple emulsion of fresh basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese and oil is pure, green magic. You can use it in so many different ways you'll need to be careful you don't start adding it to your coffee!
Here are just some of the uses off the top of my head. You'll find many more.
- Coat chicken breasts in pesto before you grill (broil) it to take it from ordinary to something really special.
- Spread it all over lamb, beef, chicken (whatever!) to give extra flavor to your next roast.
- Spread it on focaccia or chunky bread for added flavor to a toasted sandwich.
- Add it to a salad dressing.
- And don't forget, it makes a delicious pasta sauce!!
Note:
This is just the sauce recipe. If you will be eating it with pasta then you'll need to decide what type of pasta you want to use with it and how much you will need. Personally, I love it with spiral shaped pasta.
The recipe will make enough for 8 to 10 people as a main course. It isn't suitable to freeze, but it will store well in the fridge.
pasta pesto sauce
PREPARATION TIME: 15 MINUTES
COOKING TIME: 4 MINUTES
1 cup of good extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of pine nuts
4 to 6 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of coarse salt
4 cups of fresh basil leaves, firmly packed
120g (4 ounces)of parmesan cheese, grated finely
a little pepper
Take a heavy, large frying pan and add a teaspoon of the oil. Toast the pine nuts for around 3 minutes. Keep it to a medium heat and stir it almost constantly.
Use a food processor to process the pine nuts, garlic and salt until just combined. There is more processing to come and you want to be able to see small pieces of the nuts in the finished sauce.
Toss in the basil leaves and while the processor runs, add the oil in a stream through the top of the lid. Don't over process.
Turn the sauce out into a bowl and season with a little pepper. Add the parmesan cheese and mix well.
Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Remember, although the sauce may taste incredibly strong straight from the bowl, it is spread fairly thinly when used as a pasta sauce, etc.
Use immediately or store in a sealed container in the fridge.
Pasta Pest Sauce: Pure Magic!
Tip:
When storing your pesto, smooth the surface down and cover with a thin layer of olive oil. Make sure you use a glass jar with a closely sealing lid.
This will help to improve it's flavor and keeping time.
Pesto should be able to be stored in the fridge in this way for around 3 weeks, but to be truthful, mine never lasts that long so I can't be certain!
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