Store in the fridge for up to 2 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. garlic, cheese, and pine nuts in a mortar and pestle. The method of using a mortar and pestle is now outdated since food processors and blenders were created. Instead of pounding all of the ingredients together, you can simply toss it in the food processor and blend.
This year on Father’s Day, our family friends called a couple families over to celebrate the occasion. One of my best friends Diya, wanted to cook for all of our dads, so I decided to help her out. I’ve known Diya my whole life, she is basically my second older sister and we consider ourselves family at this point. Like me, she loves cooking and baking, so we make quite the duo in the kitchen. That night, we made one of the best pestos I’ve ever tasted for dinner. And I’ve tried a lot of different pestos, so I can assure you that this one is next-level good. We used basil from Diya’s mom’s basil plant which I think made a huge difference, but of course, not everyone has a basil plant at home, so store-bought works just as well. We also didn’t have that much basil since the plant was small and we didn’t want to use all of it up, so we threw in some spinach to add more volume and it was completely camouflaged in the sauce. If you don’t have a lot of basil, adding other green leaves like spinach or parsley is great for adding more volume to your sauce. In the mixture, they are tasteless. We didn't include pine nuts in the pesto that we made since my older sister is allergic to nuts. Instead we just completely left it out. If you don't have pine nuts, walnuts or pistachios are great alternatives for pesto. This pesto is great for sandwiches, pasta, and more.
TOTAL TIME: 10 minutes
SERVINGS: Yields about 1 cup
INGREDIENTS:
1 tightly cup packed basil (remove stems)
About ¾ cup good quality olive oil
2 peeled garlic cloves
¼ cup Shredded Parmigiano Reggiano, parmesan cheese, or Pecorino Romano cheese
Lemon juice (to taste)
¼ Pine nuts (optional)
Handful of spinach or parsley (optional, only add if you want more volume)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
RECIPE:
Add all of the ingredients into your food processor or blender and pulse until combined. Add more olive oil if you want the sauce to be more runny. Add other ingredients to taste and customize it to your own liking.
NOTES:
Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.