Middle Aged and Living Well

When spring arrives one of the greatest herbs becomes plentiful in either a backyard herb garden, or your grocery store. Sweet basil deserves its reputation as the king of herbs, because of its great smell, wonderful taste and its versatility. It becomes a star player in caprese salad. Slivered or torn it becomes a great finishing touch to any tomato sauce. But its greatest use and ultimate versatility is a simple sauce called pesto. Pesto is a simple creamy sauce made by combining basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and one of many hard cheeses. Once combined, the sauce has a multitude of uses. Boil some pasta or gnocchi and coat with the pesto. Use it as a dip with pita chips. A few tablespoons mixed in with your favorite vinaigrette makes a great salad dressing. The options are endless, and covered with a layer of olive oil, the sauce will keep in the refrigerator. It even freezes well. So do yourself a favor, grow some basil in your backyard and make a large batch of pesto and enjoy the taste of spring all year long.

Ingredients

• 6 Tbl pine nuts
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (I use a rasp)

Procedure

Place the pine nuts in a dry frying pan and toast over medium heat until they become shiny and slightly browned.  Watch them carefully as they will burn very quickly.  Place the pine nuts, basil, garlic and salt into a food processor and process until it begins to form a paste.  While the processor is running, drizzle the olive oil into the processor until the mixture turns into a thin paste or sauce.  I go by sound.  The sound of the paste in the food processor will go from high pitch chop to a lower pitch whirl sound.  Trust me, you will also notice the sound change when you have the right amount of olive oil.

Pour into a bowl and add the grated cheese.  Mix and taste and add additional salt and pepper (or cheese) to taste.  Serve immediately, or cover with a thin layer of olive oil and regrigerate for up to two weeks.

Cook’s Note

Pesto is not exclusive to basil, pine nuts and parmigiano.  Use the same process but try different greens (spinach, arugula, or cilantro) or different nuts (walnuts or pumpkin seeds) and finally try romano or any other hard cheese.