Pesto alla Genovese

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN "Genova Usulü Pesto"
PER ITALIANO "Pesto alla Genovese"

We've been incredibly lucky this year when it comes to growing basil.
The basil plants in the flower pot in front of our kitchen window and in our small garden have been very rewarding.
On top of that I've been recently given a huge bucket full of basil by my mother in law. So I had the chance to prepare pesto in abundance and stock up my freezer for upcoming winter. I did have lots of basil so I used some to prepare pesto alla Siciliana.

One of the most important things to make an exceptional pesto is to have a beautiful bunch of basil. Basil leaves shouldn't be worn or bruised. They need to be washed and wiped very gently.

It is pretty easy to prepare pesto sauce, no doubt that Thermomix is making our work even easier. 
The only hard part is that it takes a while to weed out all the bad leaves, pick the good ones, wash and wipe all. I must say though, it is absolutely worth it!

Well, regarding how good it is, let me tell you this much, this year I grew basil just because I desperately wanted to make as much pesto as possible! 
When you need to buy basil leaves from a supermarket, since you'd need quite a large quantity, they may add up to a considerable amount of money, hence making your own pesto wouldn't be very cost effective.

The recipe is from Io e il mio Bimby. When I tried this recipe the first time, I said to myself, that's it, search no more! ;) Since then I made it over and over again.

Ingredients:
80g basil leaves (gently washed and wiped)
50g parmesan, roughly cut
30g pecorino romano, roughly cut
30g pine nuts
1 clove of garlic
150g extra virgin olive oil
Salt


Preparation:

• Wash basil leaves gently. Drain and then transfer onto a clean tea towel. Wipe them nicely by pressing gently with some paper towel or tea towel.

• Place parmesan, pecorino, pine nuts, garlic and basil leaves in TM Bowl and chop for 20 seconds on Speed 7. 

• Scrape down the sides of TM Bowl with a spatula, add olive oil and salt. Mix for 20 seconds on Speed 3-4.

Enjoy...


Notes:

• In the book it says that it is for 6 people. So it would be enough for 500g pasta.
• The recipe is working fine also when you double the ingredients. Last time I made it I did so since I had a lot of basil. You may need to chop a few seconds more.
• I transferred my pesto into plastic cups by dividing it into 2 people portions and put in the freezer.
• I don't use this pesto only as pasta sauce. I make use of it also when I make lasagne, pizza, pie, meat, chicken, sandwiches, caprese salad and many more dishes which won't come into my mind at them moment.