Ingredients
50g small basil leaves (about 60/65 leaves)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
70g Parmigiano-Reggiano
30g Pecorino Fiore Sardo
2 peeled garlic cloves
15g pine nuts (about 1 tbls)
pinch of coarse salt
ice
Method
- Dry the leaves very well on a kitchen towel (important: the basil leaves must be very dry) and place them into the food processor with garlic, pine nuts and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Chop the ingredients coarsely for a few seconds then add salt and Pecorino cheese cut into small pieces. Blend all the ingredients for about 1 minute.
- Now add extra virgin olive oil. Blend for about 5 minutes, until you’ll get a creamy green pesto sauce. Pesto must not heat up, so be careful to work quickly, using the food processor at minimum speed and at intervals, that is, blend a few seconds, stop and start again.
Notes
Here’s a trick to make pesto greener. Take the blades and the bowl of the food processor and put them into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes until the tools are very cold. Meantime, prepare basil leaves washing them with cold water. Finally, place them in a large bowl with plenty of ice for a few minutes.
If you want to freeze the pesto to use at a later date, don’t add the cheese. You can add the cheese when mixing the pesto with the pasta.
More info: http://www.mangiareinliguria.it/consorziopestogenovese/