Perfect Pesto

There was no pesto in the freezer and I needed some. It's not really basil season, so just one batch… given that, why not make it Genoese style with the mortar and pestle? It came out really good and I want to write it down so I can do it again. The instructions and ratios came from aLlrecipies.com perfect pesto.I bought one pretty good bunch of basil and it was only 2.6 ounces of leaves so I scaled everything else. It easily fed four people and it came out very good. I'l leave the recipe instruction to use Parmigiano-Reggiano - but I used 50/50 blend of grated parmesan and grated Romano.

Thanks again to Jes for the giant mortar and pestle, because making this in a typical American mortar and pestle would not really work. Though I may use my new lathe skills to make a hardwood pestle.

7/5/24 - even carefully adjusting the ingredients to maintain the ratio, this recipe is a bit garlicky. More pine nuts would help. More cheese helps. And, it's way too pasty, I didn't measure the olive oil but I used way more than the recipe amount and it was still too thick.

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large bunch fresh basil (about 4 to 5 ounces)
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts (2)
• 2 ounces finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• ½ cup mild extra-virgin olive oil

1. Crush garlic and pinch of kosher salt in a mortar with the pestle until garlic is mashed and paste-like, 1 or 2 minutes. (I did not use salt for this step, then used a pinch for each pile of basil leaves in the next step because the basil mashes so much more quickly with some coarse salt.
2. Add basil in 3 or 4 additions, crushing and pounding down the leaves until they form a fairly fine paste, about 8 minutes or more depending on size of leaves and thickness of stems.
3. Add and pound in pine nuts.
4. Transfer a handful of grated cheese to mortar and pound into the sauce. Add another handful of cheese and incorporate into the mixture. Continue adding cheese a handful at a time until completely incorporated, about 5 minutes.
5. Drizzle in olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time, pounding it into the sauce. When all the olive oil has been added and emulsified into the mixture, transfer pesto to a bowl and drizzle the surface with olive oil.

originally submitted by mike on Mar 02, 2024