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Classic Pesto

Source of Recipe


Recipes from Paradise






List of Ingredients



• 1 pinch coarse sea salt
  
• 60 small, or 30 large, fresh basil leaves, carefully wiped, stems and spines removed
  
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled, with green heart removed
  
• 3 Tbsp pine nuts
  
• 2 Tbsp fresh, finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
  
• 2 Tbsp fresh, finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
  
• 3 to 4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (Ligurian, if available)
  






Instructions



1. Add the sea salt and a few of the basil leaves to your marble mortar. Using a wooden pestle, crush the leaves and salt gently but with a firm rhythm against the bottom and sides of the mortar so that the leaves gradually come apart. Keep adding leaves a few at a time until they are all used.
   
   
2. While the leaves are still partly intact, add the garlic and pound it too, just until it is mashed and has released its juice. Add the pine nuts and pound them until they are reduced to a paste. Stir the pestle in the mortar so that the ingredients combine. Add the Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses and stir again to combine the ingredients.
   
   
3. Pour in the olive oil, a little at a time, stirring with the pestle to make a sauce of a thick, creamy consistency. Adjust the amount of oil to your personal preference.
   
   Makes about 1 cup.