The Pesto Genovese (Italian Basil Pesto) is a typical recipe from Liguria and in particular from the city of Genoa, famous all over the world for its fresh and summery flavor reminiscent of the sea and Italy’s seaside. Recall, for those who do not know, that Pesto Alla Genovese is a Salsa made with basil, salt, garlic, pine nuts, pecorino, parmesan, and extra virgin olive oil.
As the Consortium of Pesto Genovese keeps reminding us, the real Pesto Genovese according to the Authentic Recipe is the one that does not include any extra additions to the mentioned ingredients (no ricotta cheese, cashews, seed oil or other ingredients ever seen in the original recipe). Obviously and rigorously prepared in the mortar, which we recommend you to use, if you have one available and some time: the finished product will give you immense joy and satisfaction.
Today, however, we want to reveal to you a faster method of preparing Homemade Pesto, with the help of the blender in place of the mortar, to make an excellent Quick Pesto in just a few minutes. Thanks to this system, preparing Pesto will really be a breeze and you will have no excuse not to make it yourself at home. In fact, the suggestion is just to prepare a nice stock of it in the Summer, when basilico is in season, and then store it portioned in the freezer so it can be thawed and used in the colder months.
To get a creamy Pesto remember to blend the Pesto longer, while if you want to get a coarser and grainier Rustic Pesto Sauce simply blend less long. Of course, you can also customize the ingredients depending on what you have on hand or what you don’t like: for example, if you didn’t like garlic you could omit it, and if you didn’t have pine nuts, you could safely replace them with walnuts or peeled almonds.
Usually Ligurian-style pesto is used with pasta or gnocchi, but it is also really outstanding for seasoning potatoes or boiled green beans, to be eaten with bread or to create appetizers such as the Salted Ham and Pesto Brioches. Pesto is so versatile that you can create countless recipes with it, like Pasta with Saffron and Pesto, Pesto Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Mozzarella, the ever-present Lasagna with Pesto, the Risotto with Pesto and the classic Trofie with Pesto Avantaggiato (with Potatoes and Green Beans).
If, on the other hand, you are curious to try other types of Pesto, all you have to do is try the Sicilian Pesto, the Zucchini Pesto or the Dried Tomato Pesto.
