Pesto alla Genovese

[dado potato]

Today I picked basil for pesto. My recipe used walnuts (instead of pine nuts), olive oil, grated parmesan cheese, garlic, pepper and salt. The room-temperature pesto (never heated) was mixed with half & half (milk & cream) and some of the pasta cooking water.

After forking out the pasta, a creamy sauce remained in the bowl … with a confetti of little green shreds of basil. I thought the best part was tilting the bowl and letting all that creamy sauce go down the hatch.

000_0247 (2).jpg

[razz]

That does sound and look good.

[iris lilies]

Looks really really good, I mean it!

[JaneV2.0]

I love walnut-spinach pesto; it's my favorite so far. This sounds pretty good also.

[catherine]

I did something like that a few nights ago: oil, my own fresh-picked basil and garlic formed the basis of the sauce, but I added fresh diced tomatoes from my garden. I did toast and add pine nuts, as well as a little parmesan cheese. It was really good.

[bae]

That sounds scrumptious!

[ApatheticNoMore]

I wanted to make pesto recently but basil doesn't seem to be in season here. Maybe the season has already passed (since I recall seeing some), maybe I'll see some in the future.

I'd use walnuts for the nuts, maybe put cheese but maybe not. Serve it with pasta and potatoes. Yes both, yes seems like carb overkill, but I seldom eat pasta anyway and yes pasta and potatoes is how it's often served traditionally.

[Yppej]

I've got lots of basil this year but every recipe seems to call for a food processor and I don't even have a blender.

[dado potato]

Yppej,

I wonder if you might be on good terms with a neighbor who has a food processor and would form a partnership... whatever is fair... maybe 1/4 of the finished pesto as compensation for use of the machine and advice about how to use it?

[JaneV2.0]

There's always the old mortar and pestle; I saw a chef make some kind of green sauce in one on The Best Thing I ever Ate last night.