2 cups fresh basil leaves (wash and pat dry with paper towels)
1 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano (not the stuff in the green can!!!!)
1/3 cup grated Italian Pecorino or Romano
1 cup fresh pine nuts (these could easily be stale and ruin the whole thing, so taste them)
6-8 fresh garlic cloves
1 cup of high quality first cold pressed, unfiltered olive oil
Generous amounts of fresh ground pepper and sea salt
In a food processor, combine all the dry ingredients, EXCEPT the pine nuts. Pulse until it is well blended. Add the pine nuts. With the food processor on, add the olive oil in a stream until the ingredients are barely blended. DO NOT OVERBLEND. It’s ok for the pesto to taste salty at this point. A great way to store this is to put it into ice cube trays, each cube is one serving of pesto. You can freeze the pesto in the trays during the basil season and have it all year long. It easily defrosts and tastes fabulous. 2 large tablespoons of pesto goes for one serving of pasta (linguini, fettuccini, and spaghetti are good choices). Serving suggestion: put the pesto in a large bowl, mix in a few tablespoons of pasta water with the pesto and make a paste. Coat the pasta evenly with the pesto before serving. Store pesto in the fridge for one week, unless you decide to freeze it. I encourage you to grow your own basil. It smells heavenly in the garden, or in a large terra cotta pot and makes you look like you’re a real gardener and master chef! Plants are readily available at any nursery.
Other serving tips: use for tomato, basil, mozzarella salad (recipe in salad section), or with the recipe for Fish in Foil in the main dish section. Homemade pesto is so simple, yet soooooo delicious.
This fabulous recipe was created by our old piano teacher, Mr. David Grice. He was famous for being a kind, calm man who played the piano as well as he could create delicious treats in the kitchen. He was generous in sharing his recipes and oftentimes prepared them to give away to friends and colleagues. I still remember receiving my first holiday fruit cake from Mr. Grice…part of me was dreading it because of the horrible reputation of the holiday fruit cake, but the other part of me was looking forward to tasting what had to be the best fruit cake out there. Mr. Grice died suddenly and unexpectedly recently, leaving us with fond memories of our many hours at piano lessons. I will not soon forget the wonderful aroma that hit my olfactory upon arriving at Mr. Grice’s house and the friendly greeting from him…”How’s things?”
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