Pesto Recipe

When the first golden summer days start to lazily roll in over the city, I really start to feel energized and creative again. The colourful smell of fresh fruit starts to become more prominent in the entrance of the grocery store and the colours and textures of everything seem so much brighter and inspiring. Little delicate new herbs start to poke their heads up in the garden and it’s so hard not to pluck them before they have really had a chance to develop that earthy maturity that makes them so delicious.   

When I think about summers past I also think about family and friends. Looking back at the backyard barbecues and potluck Saturday lunches can’t help but bring a smile to my face, so often food is involved in social connection. There was creamy cool crab pasta salad, charred meaty burgers, grilled fresh zucchini with just a little seasoning salt, and pillowy mounds of berry trifle. Everyone gained a little bit of sleekness to them from working in the heat and eating so much fresh, good, food that often doesn’t seem so appealing in the cold and dark winter months.

One of the heroes of summer for me is pesto. Whether it is grilled with cheese, chicken and a few sundried tomatoes in a tortilla, or gracefully dressing a pasta dish with shrimp and charred summer vegetables, its punch of fresh flavour cannot compare to anything else on the summer table. I want to share with you a recipe that has been handed down through my family, and was originally given to my Grandmother by a very dear friend of hers, Maria. This recipe has been a staple flavour for us since my childhood and I hope sharing this recipe will help bring your family together much like it has for mine.

I also love this recipe because it gives me a chance to use one of my favourite kitchen tools. I have an immersion blender with a food processor and whisk attachment that I received for Christmas of last year. I first saw these on one of Rachel Khoo’s shows. Rachel has one in a beautiful robin’s egg blue that I am envious of but couldn’t find available for purchase in Canada with the level of power I wanted. If you work in the size of kitchen like Khoo often does, or the size of kitchen I have, one of these is indispensable if you like to cook and need to blend things often. It breaks apart and stores nicely in a small space.

To start you will need:

A blender or food processor:  ⅓ cup of olive oil, 2 tbsps. of freshly grated parmesan, 2 tbsps. of toasted pine nuts, 1 cup of fresh basil leaves, 3 cloves of minced garlic.

You must first toast the pine nuts. Working with a gentle heat stir them until they are nicely browned. Here is a before and after so you get an idea of what yore aiming for.

Finally, you add all your ingredients to your blender or food processor and you’re done! It’s really simple. If you want, you can freeze the sauce in ice cube trays in one portion servings for easy meal additions. This recipe yields about ⅔ of a cup of pesto. Enjoy!