Basil Pesto from Liguria
Pesto Genovese, fragrant with fresh summery basil, may just be the second best known Italian sauce in North America (after tomato sauce). Most gardeners we know cultivate a big patch of basil to turn into pesto toward the season’s end, and cooks are quick to add a dollop of pesto to just about anything from a pizza topping to a marinade for a swordfish steak. We like it best in its purest form, as a dressing for pasta.
At Porsena, Sara often serves pesto with corzetti, another Ligurian classic, handmade pasta shaped into round disks that are stamped with a carved design that traps bits of the sauce (see here). Lacking corzetti, however, you may serve the pasta with traditional trofie (short, thin, twisted pasta shapes) or trenette (long, flat pasta strings)—linguine might be substituted for trenette.
We firmly believe that the classic Ligurian basil pesto, as fragrant as summer itself, served the way they do it in Genova, with new potatoes and the thinnest of fresh green beans, is probably the most elegant pasta dish Italian cooks have ever invented. And we also believe that a classic Ligurian pesto is never quite as good as when made by hand, using a mortar and a pestle. It’s quick and easy to make with a food processor, and as cooks in a hurry we often resort to that technique, but nothing beats the unctuous texture of an old-fashioned handmade pesto. Do please try the old-fashioned way at least once so you’ll know what we’re talking about, even if you go back to the food processor occasionally just for the convenience.
Note that this recipe makes enough pesto for eight servings of pasta. Any leftover pesto may be stored in the refrigerator in a glass bowl or jar with a light film of olive oil on top. Some people freeze pesto. We don’t, having found that frozen pesto in February totally lacks the appeal it had last summer.
MAKES 1½ TO 2 CUPS PESTO
2 cups packed whole, tender young basil leaves (discard stems or use them, tied in a bundle, to flavor the pasta water)
¼ cup pine nuts
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste
½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano, plus more to taste
½ cup freshly grated pecorino sardo or pecorino toscano
2 plump garlic cloves, crushed and minced
The following directions are for using a food processor; to make pesto with a mortar and pestle, see the end of the recipe.
Working delicately, rinse and thoroughly dry the basil leaves and set aside.
In the bowl of the processor, combine the rinsed and dried basil, pine nuts, and salt. Pulse until the mixture is coarse and grainy. With the motor running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream. Add the parmigiano and pecorino, processing just enough to mix well. If the sauce is too dry, add a little more oil; if it’s too liquid, stir in a little more cheese and/or pine nuts. Finally, add the garlic and process briefly, just to mix. Taste and add more cheese or salt, if desired.
TO MAKE PESTO WITH A MORTAR AND PESTLE
To the bowl of a rough-textured stone or ceramic mortar, add a pinch of salt, the pine nuts, and minced garlic. Using the pestle, gently press and pound the ingredients to a paste. Now start adding the rinsed and thoroughly dried basil leaves, a small handful at a time. Change the stroke you use with the pestle, swiping the pestle diagonally down the sides of the mortar to capture stray basil leaves as they work their way up the sides of the bowl. Keep turning the mortar, a quarter turn at a time, as you swipe down the sides. If you’re right-handed, you’ll stroke down the bowl in a counterclockwise direction as you turn the bowl; if you’re left-handed, you’ll find it easier to do this in a clockwise direction. Whatever works!
Keep adding more handfuls of basil until all the basil has been incorporated. Although the pesto will still be rather liquid in texture compared with the finished product, you may be surprised at the almost creamy quality the sauce develops as you work in the basil. Set aside some of the grated cheeses to garnish the pasta. Once all the basil has been incorporated, start adding the remaining cheeses, again a small quantity at a time. When all the cheeses have been added, start adding the oil, again a little at a time. You may find that just ⅓ cup will bring the pesto up to the proper thick and viscous texture—or you may need to use the entire ½ cup. The finished sauce will be a deep green, sprinkled with bits of darker green, but it will also have more texture than the smooth pesto made in a blender or food processor. Taste the sauce and add more salt, or more of the cheeses, if you wish.