Pesto Recipe Tips, Ingredients and Suggestions

Fresh pesto is my favorite summer treat. The word pesto is derived from the Italian "pesta", meaning to pound and pesto is made by pounding a short list of fresh ingredients together to form a smooth paste. In our modern times, it's often more convenient to use a food processor than the traditional mortar and pestle, which also derives from the same word. At its most basic, pesto is made from fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese, blended with olive oil and a little salt and pepper. But there is so much more you can do with your pesto recipe! A basic recipe for two would be approximately as follows:

4 cups packed fresh basil
1/3 to 3/4 cups fine grated Parmesan
2-3 Tablespoons pine nuts
1 or more cloves fresh garlic, minced
Olive oil to consistency
Salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in a food processor to a smooth consistency. You'll find that if you drizzle the olive oil into the processor slowly, you'll get the consistency you prefer intuitively. Pretty easy, right? That simple recipe will give you a delicious tasting pesto that you can serve on pasta for a meal, crackers or toast as an appetizer, or any number of other ways to serve your family or guests. But why stop there?

This is where the fun begins and your own tastes and imagination can shine through! It's at this point that I want to make the most critical point of making fresh pesto.

**Use the freshest, best ingredients you can get. And yes, I'm suggesting you splurge.**

I cannot emphasize this enough. Get the freshest quality basil you can find. If you are fortunate enough to have your own garden, be it ever so humble, make a place for a few basil plants. They are perennials and do well in bright sun. Harvest them at or before the height of the summer. The herb gets bitter as the summer wanes.

For the cheese, why not try Romano or pecorino cheese to liven up your pesto. It will give you an excuse to visit that Italian or Greek market you've been meaning to check out. Throw in some feta, who knows, but again, this is all about making it your pesto.

Pine nuts are delicious, buttery bites of heaven, but personally, I've never met a nut I didn't love! My sister-in-law once made me a pesto made with cashews and I was in heaven. Imagine what a smoked almond might do for your pesto! I've even had pesto with wasabi and soy sauce almonds and what a remarkable pesto it was! Again, it's another way you can own the recipe.

It goes without saying that you should use the best extra virgin olive oil you can find, and ahem, afford! "Extra virgin" olive oil is considered to be the highest quality olive oil to use for flavor and can be quite expensive, but if you're making fresh pesto don't skimp on this. You will notice the difference!

That's it, my friend. Pesto is one of those recipes you can just run out into the world and say, "I made this!" If you try something and love it, keep it. If it didn't turn out the way you wanted, tweak it the next time. And what about serving it? There are tons of ways you can make that your own, too!

Pesto is fantastic served on fresh pasta or as an appetizer on bits of crunchy bread, but what else might you be able to do with it?

Pesto is a sauce. Never forget this! How about a light pesto on your BBQ? Instead of a traditional red bbq sauce, why not a touch of green? Do you love deviled eggs at your summer picnic? Why not throw a tablespoon of pesto in the filling? What about pesto pizza? You get the idea!

A recipe I haven't tried yet but am dying to try is pesto stuffed ravioli. Sounds delicious! Maybe pesto stuffed tomatoes as your salad? As you can see, there are just as many ways to EAT pesto as there are ways to make it. I encourage you to experiment with both and if you find (as I'm sure you will!) new recipes and meal ideas, please share them with others and me!

http://www.pokemyname.com/firstname_720_basil.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesto