Pesto. Just saying that word aloud makes you think of the lingering days of summer, when there’s an abundance of fresh basil at the local farmer’s market or – if you’re lucky enough – in the home garden.
Pesto is a deliciously simple sauce made from fresh basil, garlic, cheese and extra virgin olive oil. It’s wonderful tossed with pasta – particularly freshly made pasta, as pictured here. You can mix some pesto into a bowl of hot or cold minestrone soup. Pesto also is a great topping for pizza. The uses are endless.
The people of the Mediterranean seaport city of Genoa, in Italy, invented pesto. The traditional way to make it is to grind the basil and other ingredients with a mortar and pestle.
The basil grown around Genoa is said to be particularly good, because it gets flavored from the salty breeze that blows in from the Mediterranean. But you don’t need to buy a plane ticket to enjoy a good pesto. And you don’t have to use a mortar and pestle (although doing so does produce an excellent sauce).
We’ve come across dozens of pesto recipes. Some call for butter. Some call for boiling the garlic beforehand. Some suggest toasting the pine nuts. Others suggest using macadamia nuts or some other nuts, other than pine nuts.
You also can make pesto using parsley, cilantro, arugula, mint – you name it.
We’ve hit on our own basil pesto recipe. We used our Arbosana extra virgin olive oil in the latest batch we prepared.
As with all things related to cooking, feel free to experiment with the ingredients. And send us your ideas and recipes.
Bon appétit,
Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch
