pesto genovese

Pesto Genovese is an uncooked cold sauce made only with 7 ingredients: Genovese basil DOP, extra virgin olive oil (Possibly of the Ligurian Riviera), Parmigiano Reggiano (or Grana Padano), Pecorino cheese (Fiore Sardo), pine nuts, garlic and salt. It was born in Liguria, a beautiful region situated in northern Italy. It's one of the sauces most used in our country and nowadays it's famous all over the world.

Pesto Genovese | Authentic Italian Basil Pesto

g of small basil leaves (about 60/65 leaves)

extra virgin olive oil

70 g (½ cup) of Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano

g (2 tablespoons) of Pecorino Fiore Sardo

garlic cloves

g (1 tablespoon) of pine nuts

salt

Blend the ingredients

Wash and dry the basil leaves very well on a kitchen towel. Place them in a food processor with garlic, pine nuts and grated Parmigiano. Chop coarsely for a few seconds then add salt and Pecorino Fiore Sardo cheese cut into small pieces. Blend all the ingredients for about 1 minute.

Add extra virgin olive oil

Add extra virgin olive oil. Blend for about 5 minutes, until you’ll get a creamy green pesto sauce. Pesto must not heat up, so be careful to work quickly, using the food processor at minimum speed and at intervals, that is, blend a few seconds, stop and start again.

Add some cooking water

Before seasoning your pasta dish, if the basil pesto is too thick, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the cooking water; this way you’ll have a warm homogeneous soft pesto sauce.

Homemade pesto is a gloriously simple, fresh, and makes a superb pasta sauce, condiment, and dip. 

Pesto Genovese (classic basil pesto)

pine nuts

sea salt

garlic cloves,

Parmigiano-Reggiano, (Parmesan cheese), grated

Pecorino Romano, grated

Combine all ingredients in food processor, Vitamix, or blender* and blend until coarsely combined or smooth depending on preference.

I like to add the pine nuts last so I can control how course I want the pesto. I generally prefer smooth pesto, but chunky/more coarse is great too. Stop 3-4 times to scrape sides with spatula.

Transfer to small glass bowl with a lid or canning jar. Top with 1/2 inch olive oil and chill. The olive oil on top prevents browning of basil when it stays stored in the fridge.

Enjoy with pasta*, on sandwiches, or as a dip!

This is a staple in our house.  We love this pesto! It’s so easy and so delicious and everyone loves it.

Best and most authentic pesto recipe straight from Italia!

This pesto sauce is so good!!! This recipe was a lot easier than I thought it would be to make pesto!

i tried the pesto recipe and it was simple delicious! so fresh!

This is a really good recipe, just wait till all the flavors meld together!

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Top 2 pesto genovese recipes from across the web

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Pesto Genovese | Authentic Italian ...

Pesto Genovese (classic basil pesto...

The most viewed pesto genovese recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine