Pesto
Pesto is an Italian sauce, generally attributed to Northern Italy, specifically the city of Genoa. It is believed that this sauce was developed as a way to store excess basil at the end of the season. It is based upon basil and olive oil and usually also has parmesan cheese, garlic, and pine nuts, but there are many variations upon the recipe. It has many uses, it can be put on pasta or on bread or be used to flavour meats or pizza, however, this sauce should be used sparingly, as consuming too much olive oil for those not used to it can cause mild illness. See the talk page for more information.
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Recipe
The following recipe substitutes Romano cheese for the usual parmesan.
Ingredients
Procedure
Preheat the oven to 425 °F. In an oven proof pan toast the pine nuts for 10-15 minutes, checking every 5 minutes. In a small skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil on medium heat. Crush the garlic and sauté in the oil until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Combine the basil, garlic, cheese and pine nuts in a food processor and chop finely. While the processor is still running, slowly add the remaining oil to reach a paste like consistency.
The sauce can be used immediatly, refrigerated in an airtight container for one week, or frozen for several months.
Common changes
Traditional method
Traditionally, a mortar and pestle was used to make the sauce, but this has generally been replaced by the food processor.
See also: List of recipesDifferent nuts
A common change in the recipe is to replace some or all of the pine nuts with walnuts or almonds. This significantly reduces the cost of the sauce.Creamy pesto
Take two tablespoons of the sauce above in a sauce pot and heat on medium-low. add one cup light cream, and bring to a simmer. Use for pasta. Serves two.Sun dried tomatos
Replace the pine nuts with an equal quantity of sun dried tomatos. Use as above.
