sauce - pistou, pesto, basil, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan, cheese
t=teaspoon T=tablespoon + -=more or less
These recipes are for your personal use only and may not be added in any form to archives or other works.
Please be sure to read 'Fragrant Basil's Magic Touch' - Pistou and Pesto for further information.
Pistou - Provencal dialect for 'pounded'
...but is understood to mean basil paste. Provencal cooking is unthinkable without pistou and is similar to pesto, however more garlic is used, and there are no pine nuts nor cheese in the original recipe. How much garlic is used varies from family to family and can be from 3 to 6 cloves for the recipe below! Today modern versions using sun-dried tomatoes, or fresh or other ingredients are added by adventurous cooks and are also tasty. In that case, then it is not pistou, but pistou with sun-dried tomatoes etc.
Makes a little less than a cup.
2 lg. bunches fresh basil (+ - 1 cup slightly packed leaves only)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 t. salt
olive oil (enough to make a thick paste + - 60 ml. or 4 T.)
Crush or mince the garlic and place in a mortar with the salt. Work with the pestle to create a paste. Add the torn basil leaves and continue to pound and crush to acquire a rough paste. Slowly add a little olive oil at a time, continuing to mash the leaves and garlic into a smooth, thick paste.
If using a blender, you should still mash the crushed or minced garlic with the salt first. Add the torn leaves and while the motor is running, drizzle in a little olive oil. Stop now and again to free the blades and bottom of the blender before continuing. Be careful not to over blend. It must not liquidize, but still be a smooth paste.
Frankly, unless making a large amount, I find the stopping, freeing the blades, pushing down the mass and starting again and again too fiddly and too much cleanup. I prefer using the mortar and pestle and if I am truly in a hurry, then a final work over with my (much loved) hand-held blender good enough. Contact with the metal blades is kept to a minimum and the consistency is perfect which does not mean a homogenous, creamy mass, rather a thick paste with some texture. Technically, a blender finely shreds and using the mortar and pestle pounds an ingredient which releases the maximum flavour and provides the traditional texture. Adding a little more or less olive oil to pistou or pesto is cook's privilege.
Pesto - in Italian refers to the pestle or also means 'to pound or crush'
Pesto alla Genovese
For the Ligurians, basilico (meaning 'royal' in Greek) is the king of herbs and rightfully so. The Genoese are famous for their pesto and claim that authentic pesto can only be made with a mortar and pestle using young basil plants of the small leafed variety. Of course, the large leafed basil (akn. Italian basil) is the kind most most commonly available throughout Europe's markets and outside of Genoa or private gardens with ample supplies.
Making pesto is not rocket science, and few traditional cooks in Italy would think of weighing or measuring the ingredients. Just remember that as a general guide, 1 clove per bunch of fresh basil, a pinch of salt is a 'serious' pinch meaning a good 1/8 teaspoon. The amount of pine nuts used is again a chef's preference, but a small handful will be what fits in the hollow of your cupped palm. More or less will not affect the pesto (or pistou for that matter) but make it uniquely your own. The amount of oil is whatever is enough to make a not too thick and not too thin paste. Variations are below.
2 lg. bunches fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
2 good pinches salt
pine nuts - a small handful
pecorino or Parmesan cheese (or half of this can be Romano) - a small handful
Proceed as in instructions for pistou.
To make a sauce for pasta, place a good tablespoon per serving in a warmed bowl large enough for all the pasta with room to toss. Thin with a few tablespoons of pasta water, add a grating of pepper and perhaps a pinch more of salt. Stir then toss with the drained trenette, the traditional pasta for this dish. Tagliatelli may also be used. Some cooks prefer to use warmed cream instead of the pasta water. Heavenly!
My variation below is a little lower in fat calories and offers a slight variation of taste to the traditional Pesto alla Genovese:
Pesto Mio
2 large bunches of fresh basil
1 T. pine nuts
2-3
walnut halves
2 T. grated pecorino or Parmesan
1 garlic clove
a
little water (or little splash of dry white wine!)
+ - 2 T. olive oil
Sauté broken walnut halves and pine nuts until light brown in hot olive oil.
Careful as once the pine nuts begin to colour, they can burn quickly.
Remove from heat and allow to return to room temperature.
Proceed as above however, start with 1 tablespoon of room temperature water and work in until incorporated before adding a little oil, then a little water and finishing with enough oil to make the desired consistency. Adding too much water at a time will make it more difficult to 'emulsify' the blend.
Slightly toasting the nuts first brings out their 'nuttiness'.
Note: once in an emergency I started this pesto believing I still had
Parmesan cheese. I didn't and substituted a little feta cheese
instead. Oh, a delightful surprise and interesting, tasty change. I
recommend trying this version because it is delicious, but not on Italian cuisine connoisseurs.
Adding even more feta cheese creates a wonderful spread on focaccio or any flat
bread such as Turkish or pita.
~
Other variations to basic pesto is the addition of a good handful of flat leaf parsley, substituting almonds for the pine nuts or adding a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Crush well after you have worked on the garlic and salt for a few minutes before adding the basil and continuing.
Of course, you can create pestos made entirely of parsley (add a little lemon juice and use almonds) or cilantro (use either pine nuts or almonds and pound in 1 small dried red chilie, or a few serrano chilies or similar for a piquant change.)
Both pistou and pesto freeze well. I recommend freezing in tablespoon quantities, allowing to come to room temperature before using. If you are freezing larger quantities, such as small tubs, then omit the cheese and add this once it is thawed and room temperature. Covered with a little olive oil, it also keeps well in the refrigerator for several days to a week. After this time, it may become bitter and loose its bright green colour.
All recipes are excerpts from "Welcome to My Kitchen" - The Epicurean Table and are copyright of the author. Recipes are not to be
added to any form of archive or other works of any kind. Contact the author for further information.
The Epicurean Table © 1999-2003 Patricia Conant