Pesto is a no-cook herb sauce, usually made with fresh basil. But it can actually be made with any number of herbs. Here’s the way you can create your own signature version, based on what’s in the produce section, at your farmers’ market, or even in your garden. You’ll end up with about 1 cup. Toss with still-warm cooked and drained pasta, smear on burgers as a condiment, drizzle on tomato slices, or spoon on baked potatoes.
1. For a mixed-herb pesto, start with 1¼ cups of a primary fresh herb. Choose from basil, parsley, and cilantro. Then add ¼ cup of a secondary, complementary fresh herb, like dill, oregano, sage, rosemary, mint, tarragon, chervil, or marjoram. Good combinations are basil and oregano, basil and tarragon, parsley and dill, and cilantro and sage. (In a pinch, you can also use just 1½ cups of the primary herb, omitting the secondary herb entirely.) Use only the leaves of the herbs and not the woody stems. To measure, pack the leaves tightly into a measuring cup. Place the herbs in the bowl of a large food processor fitted with the chopping blade.
2. Add ¼ cup finely grated hard, aged cheese. Try Parmigiano-Reggiano, aged Asiago, or Pecorino. A crumbly, dry, aged goat cheese or a super-aged Gouda will also work.
3. Add 3 tablespoons chopped unsalted nuts or seeds, such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, shelled pistachios, or pine nuts. If you’ve got extra time, toast the nuts or seeds in a dry skillet over medium-low heat to give them more flavor—but cool them before adding to the food processor.
4. Snap the lid onto the food processor and give the mixture a few pulses. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil or a nut oil from the same nut you added to the mix—or perhaps 1½ tablespoons oil plus 1½ tablespoons water for a lower-fat alternative. Continue processing until coarsely textured and thick, scraping down the inside of the bowl once or twice to make sure everything is chopped to the same consistency.
5. Finally, add 1 teaspoon table salt and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper. If you like, also add up to 2 tablespoons of an additional flavoring agent: drained and rinsed capers, drained jarred pimientos or roasted red peppers, pliable soft sun-dried tomatoes, lemon zest, and/or minced garlic. Process just until well combined. The pesto should still be grainy although without any bits of nuts or other ingredients in the mix.
6. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. To prevent browning, press a piece of parchment paper directly onto the exposed surface of the pesto before putting the lid on the container.