I love when basil is in season. Instead of the puny grocery store offerings, I get to come home with something I would describe more like a ‘bouquet’ of basil. As I walk home from the market, the basil wafts out of my canvas bag and I try to decide what exactly to do with all of this basil. Unless I’m feeling adventurous, there is really only one answer that will suffice. PESTO.

That’s really a joke. I use basil in a variety of ways, but I always come back to this simple yet incredible condiment. It’s adds character to any tomato sauce, a great dressing for white bean salad, a punchy spread for sandwiches… and, of course, incredible when tossed with pasta.

Making pesto became an automatic reflex once I got my food processor. I used to do it by hand, and tried to do it with my mini-processor-named-after-a-gun-accessory (the less I say about this pesto, the better). The food processor took the elbow grease out of the task, and made it more likely that I would randomly decide to make a fresh batch of pesto. You don’t absolutely NEED to use a food processor, but it will make the whole process much easier.

Today, I am posting a basic basil pesto. This fall, I plan to post some variations on pesto that I think you may enjoy.

 

Basic Basil Pesto

This makes between 1 1/2 and 2 cups of pesto.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cups of fresh basil, washed, drained and roughly chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped (about 2 Tablespoons)
• 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more to serve where appropriate*
• 2 Tablespoons pine nuts, plus more to serve where appropriate*
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus
• freshly ground black pepper
• chile flakes (optional)

Preparation

1. In a food processor, add 2 Tablespoons the olive oil, garlic, salt and a handful of the basil. Pulse until the basil is chopped and all ingredients begin to incorporate.
2. Add another couple of handfuls of basil, without overfilling the food processor. Pulse a few times; just enough to chop the basil. Repeat until all of the basil has been added. Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl in between, as needed.
3. Add 3/4c of the grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and 2 Tablespoons of the pine nuts. Blend on low speed until the mixture comes together and begins to look like pesto. It shouldn’t be puréed – you should still be able to see the various ingredients. Think finely minced, and incorporated. It should be a chunky paste, and not a thin or wet sauce.
4. Remove the mixture from the food processor, and stir in the remaining cheese, pepper and chile flakes (if using). Taste, and add more salt if necessary.

*Extra Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and pine nuts make a fantastic garnish for a dinner dish, such as pasta or white bean salad. Obviously, this is not necessary if you are using the pesto on a sandwich.