Pesto is a classic Italian sauce, probably one of the most famous sauces in the world. Made from fresh basil leaves, Parmesan cheese, nuts (in the original recipe – pine nuts), garlic, and olive oil, it gives any dish a special aroma and flavor. It can be purchased ready-made or prepared at home.
Since it is easy to buy fresh basil at the market in the summer, we couldn't resist making pesto sauce ourselves.
саме такий "букет" базиліку ми придбали на ринку
What we ended up with (spoiler – it was so delicious that we barely managed not to eat all the prepared sauce at once) – we will tell and show in this post.
Time required: up to 15 minutes
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
Cost of ingredients: average (may rise to "above average" if we use pine nuts)
We will need:
100 g of fresh basil leaves
70 g of Parmesan cheese
3 cloves of garlic
100 ml of first cold-pressed olive oil
50 g of cashew nuts (the original recipe uses pine nuts, but cashews can also be chosen)
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
продуктовий набір
Preparation
We separate the basil leaves from the stems (if we add stems to the sauce – there is a risk that it will end up bitter. Basil flowers can be added, we have tried it from our own experience). We place them in a container, rinse thoroughly, and dry with paper towels.
We cut the garlic into large pieces.
ось такими шматками
We place the basil leaves in the blender bowl, add the garlic, and start chopping at medium speed.
поклали в чашу
в процесі подрібнення
Gradually pour in the olive oil (the chopping process will go faster), and start adding the nuts. We let the blender run for 2-3 minutes.
додаємо олію
додаємо кеш'ю
During this time, we grate the Parmesan on a fine grater.
натерли пармезаг
We transfer the chopped basil with garlic, nuts, and oil from the bowl. We combine all the ingredients together, add black pepper and salt.
перед змішуванням
With salt, we should start with a pinch, as Parmesan already adds saltiness to the sauce. We mix thoroughly and can taste.
вуа-ля!
The finished pesto sauce can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for one to two weeks. For better storage, a thin layer of olive oil can be poured over the top of the sauce.
Pesto sauce is the perfect addition to pasta. Just add a few teaspoons – and trivial flour products turn into a restaurant dish. Pesto also works great as a salad dressing. It pairs perfectly with meat, fish, and even simple crunchy toasts. It is also hard to imagine a classic Italian minestrone soup and Caprese salad without it.
