Pesto Sauce

An Italian sauce made with fresh basil

When we visited Europe for the first time, we were fortunate to have spent a week in Cinque Terre, on the Ligurian Coast of Italy. This region is known for its delicious seafood and its white wine, and it is also the birthplace of pesto. Pesto sauce is made from basil, pine nuts, garlic, hard aged cheese (like parmigiano reggiano), and a touch of olive oil. It is traditionally made in a large stone mortar and crushed to a smooth paste with a pestle. In fact, the words pesto and pestle share the same linguistic root.

Each summer our garden unfailingly produces oodles of basil, and we do our best to preserve what we don’t immediately use so we can enjoy the taste of summer year-round. We chop and freeze fresh basil, along with dozens of jars of home-made pesto, to be pulled out bit-by-bit over the long months of winter.

We’ve tweaked our recipe slightly over the years and make a few unorthodox adjustments (I will continue using a food processor until my family takes the hint and gifts me my dream mortar and pestle), which I hope will not offend the purists among you.

Ingredients:

· 3 c. packed basil leaves

· 5 large cloves garlic

· ¾ c. fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano, pecorino, or a mixture of both

· ¼ c. pine nuts (walnuts or almonds also work; each imparts a different flavor so pick your favorite), lightly toasted

· ¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

· 1 T. lemon juice (optional)*

Directions:

1. Toast the pine nuts on a baking sheet until fragrant.

2. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until slightly chunky but mostly creamy.

3. Eat immediately, tossed with fresh pasta, or place into jars and freeze. Make sure to cover with a layer of olive oil (around 1/8 inch) so that oxygen does not touch the pesto, which will make it turn brown. Each time you use a spoonful, replace the layer of olive oil and your pesto will retain its brilliant green color.

*The lemon juice will also help keep the pesto green, and the extra zip it gives the sauce doesn’t hurt.