Pesto: Basil is the king of pasta

March 16, 2014

Basil in Greek means king, so the pesto, the famous Italian sauce made with basil, pine nuts and garlic for me is really the king of pasta.
And if you do not like garlic, you can still taste the pesto simply not adding the garlic.

I love it always, with and without garlic! And is a fantastic vegetarian sauce that may be served with bruschettas or meat.

Here’s what you need.

100 grams – 1 cup – basil leaves, 100 grams of pine nuts – ½ cup, 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, depending on your taste (you can not put it at all), 100 grams of grated Parmesan cheese and then half a cup of hot water from the pasta.

First of all, wash the basil leaves dry out.
Put in a blender the basil leaves, pine nuts and garlic, peeled if you like: whisk and then add the oil a little ‘time. Blend well until you obtain a very homogeneous cream.

At this point you have prepared the basis for the pesto. The you can keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours or freeze. If you freeze it, I recommend you put it in a container for ice cubes: every cube is enough for a plate of pasta in so doing will be very convenient to thaw only the quantity you need. The base of the pesto should be frozen before adding the grated Parmesan, if not sour. The grain must always be added to the pesto just before eating it.

To complete the pesto, add 100 grams of Parmesan and mix well.

Meanwhile cook the pasta while the pasta is boiling, add the pesto one or two scoops of cooking water. Add water to cook the pasta takes to mix well the various components of pesto, to add salt to make it smooth and creamy, and ultimately to enhance the bouquet: And ‘this is the trick to a perfect pitch!