Pesto Pasta
July 14th 2011 09:33
:
The history of
:
Pesto sauce
Pesta pasta, a winner for even the hardest critics
"It's gre-een!" whined my older son.
It's amazing how quickly they gobbled it up when it was mixed with fettucine.
Pesto originated from Liguria in Italy, a small region in the north-west.
Legend has it that the name came from the fact that a mortar and PESTLE are used to mix the basil leaves with the other ingredients.
It's believed to go back as far as the 1600s.
While a mortar and pestle is the traditional way to make the sauce, I have to admit to using more modern appliances...as in my small electric mixer.
I also didn't have pine nuts in the recipe as what I thought was in the pantry...wasn't. Obviously used in a previous recipe.
I have included them in the recipe below however.
Ingredients
200g basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
100g pine nuts
100g freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (a mature cheese will do if the budget doesn't stretch)
100g freshly grated pecorino
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
350ml olive oil
500g fettucine/spaghett or tagliarni
Method
1. Using a large mortar and pestle, crush together all the ingredients except the olive oil and pasta.
2. Blend in the olive oil gradually to form an emulsified paste, adding only a small amount of oil to begin with, just to gwet the dry ingredients to move.
3. As you work, continually scrape the mixture from the sides into the centre of the bowl.
4. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente.
5. Drain pasta and dress with pesto to taste and serve immediately. (I grated some more cheese and sprinkled on top.
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