The Perfect Pesto

I can distinctly recall my first monumental and impacting food memory. Summer in my kitchen with my mom. Standing on a kitchen stool to reach the counter. Tons of basil drying in colanders, freshly picked from the garden. The entire kitchen smelling of pinenuts toasting on the stove nearby.

I can very much remember helping her pulse all of five or so ingredients in the Cuisinart and making batch after batch of the most phenomenal pesto I have ever – and will ever – have.

I very seldom make this pesto because it’s results solely rely on the quality of the ingredients. Basil from the garden has been hard to come by for many years now – it wasn’t really liking the soil outside and our yield was too low to make even a few batches of pesto. Pinenuts are also extremely expensive and have hiked in price over the past decade.

For some reason, though, the basil this year is thriving and gorgeous. The leaves are giant and full, fragrant and sweet. It probably has something to do with my grandma retiring and spending every waking hour slaving away in the dirt.

Regardless, I got to make my favorite and most influential recipe last night because of a wonderful garden harvest. It was the first time in years where the basil, parsley garlic were homegrown. I was also willing to throw down for a mere cup of pinenuts.

Of course you can sub out the basil and parsley for other greens, and the pinenuts for other nuts and seeds – I do all the time – but this recipe particular recipe was meant to unadulterated. That being said, the measurements are subjective and really depend on your quality of ingredients and affinity for salt.

A really important aspect of this recipe is to use a Cuisinart food processor. A blender is definitely acceptable, and something I have used a lot in the past, but it’s ideal to have a processor with lots of surface area on the bottom so everything gets evenly pulsed and chopped.

Edit: I included another recipe using the pesto -- I made it for dinner with my better half with the idea in mind of making a pasta meal, excluding tomatoes.

I went to the store with my mother and was totally entranced by the most gorgeous lasagne sheets, and felt like that was going to be the perfect vehicle for the pesto, as opposed to another type of pasta. Then I also remembered that I had a copious amount of homemade ricotta at home because of a mass spoilage of milk at work! My idea came was coming into fruition.

---

Basil | Pinenut Pesto

Makes around or over a quart

4-5 cups/handfuls of basil

1 cup/handful of parsley

2 green garlic heads, quartered

1 cup raw pinenuts

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

½ lemon, juiced

1 ½ cups good extra virgin olive oil

~2 tbsp salt

Begin by toasting the pinenuts on a small sauté pan or cast iron skillet. Put over a medium to medium-high flame and don’t walk away. Shake the pan frequently to evenly brown the nuts. Toast until completely tan and fragrant—then remove immediately because they will continue to toast and burn in the hot pan. Set aside to cool.

Set up the food processor and begin by adding the garlic and the cheese. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the parsley and basil (you may need to add in multiple batches, depending on the size of your processor) and pulse 10-15 times until everything is once again coarsely chopped. Repeat process if doing multiple batches of herbs. Scrape down the sides of the container with a spatula.

Next add the cooled pinenuts, 1 tbsp of salt and the lemon juice. Pulse 5 or so more times and scrape down sides again. Now instead of pulsing, turn the processor on and while running add of the olive oil at a very slow pace. Once completely added, turn off the processor and remove from the power source.

Transfer pesto into a bowl or a container. Taste for seasoning – you want the pesto to err on the salty side because it’s a sauce and is essentially seasoning whatever you put it on. Use it with pasta (my favorite), on roasted veggies, over eggs, on avocado, as a salad dressing, anything really!

Use immediately, store in the fridge for up to a month, or label and freeze indefinitely in an air-tight container!

Pesto | Ricotta Lasagne

Serves 2-4

1 package of good quality lasagne sheets

1 cup basil pesto

1 cup ricotta, homemade or store bought

1 cup whole milk

1 large ball mozzarella, thinly sliced or grated

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 zucchini, thinly shaved with vegetable peeler

1 lemon, juiced

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup salt

Begin by bringing a large bowl of water to a boil. Add most of the salt. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Meanwhile, get all of the ingredients in place and ready to assemble; putting all of the sauces and veggies in a bowl and lined- up will make assembly more seamless and quick.

Once water is boiling, add the lasagne sheets and immediately start stirring to prevent the sheets from sticking. Only let the sheets boil for about 2-3 minutes, just until pliable because they will continue to cook in the lasagne. After enough time, drain the pasta and in a colander and run cold water over the sheets for a minute or so to prevent additional cooking from taking place.

Now that all of the ingredients are prepared, assemble! There's not a particular order I like to follow, but do start with a casserole tray -- any larger size will do, round or square. Put 1 tbsp of the olive oil on the very bottom and spread around evenly to prevent the pasta sheets from sticking while cooking. The first layer, you guest it, pasta sheets. Put down a single layer, followed by the zucchini strips. Then the pesto, ricotta, and mozzarella. ***Remember to lightly season with salt between the layers.

Keep following that order (or not, do whatever you want), until all of the zucchini and pasta sheets are gone. At the very end, I loaded up the lasagne with a thick layer of zucchini, then the last of the mozzarella at the top so it melts and caramelized. Drizzle the very top with the balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Cover with aluminum foil and pop in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

After enough time has elapsed, check on lasagne -- it should be bubbling and steamy. If so, take the foil off the top, evenly sprinkle the Parmesan cheese. Crank the heat up to 450-500 and place back in the oven for another 3 minutes, just so the cheeses really bubble and brown.

Take out of the oven and let rest for a few minutes. When ready to serve, the easiest way is to cut portions with a small, sharp knife and remove pieces with a spatula. Top with finishing salt and enjoy!

#pesto #basil #summer #herbs #garlic #nuts #sauce #garden #homegrown #organic #homemade #veggies #vegetarian #vegetables