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The Best Pesto Recipe
I never used to like spaghetti with pesto. It tasted gloppy. But then I tried the recipe from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking and my life changed. This past weekend, I secured a bunch of basil from my friend’s garden, and made a batch just in time to watch Mad Men. Add in a crisp martini and you have all the ingredients for a perfect night. Recipe here:
Pesto – Marcella Hazan
Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine before putting in the processor
salt
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated ( parrmigiano-reggiano)
2 tablespoons pecorino romano cheese, freshly grated
3 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
Directions
1. Briefly soak and wash the basil in cold water, and gently pat it thoroughly DRY with paper towels.
2. Put the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, chopped garlic, and an ample pinch of salt in the processor bowl, and process to a uniform, creamy consistency.
3. Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the two grated cheeses by hand. It is worth the slight effort to do it by hand to obtain the notably superior texture it produces.
4. When the cheese has been evenly amalgamated with the other ingredients, mix in the softened butter, distributing it uniformly into the sauce.
5. When spooning the pesto over pasta, dilute it slightly with a tablespoon or two of the hot water in which the pasta was cooked.
Freezing pesto: Make the sauce through to the end of Step 2, cover with a layer of olive oil and freeze it without cheese and butter in it. Add the cheese and butter when it is thawed, just before serving.
Photo of Pesto from Harry’s Bar in Venice by Jessica Craig Martin
Discussion
10 comments for “The Best Pesto Recipe”
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This looks unbelievable! I’ve always eyed this recipe but was nervous about the butter and spaghetti. I usually stick with olive oil and just a tad of butter and spaghetti isn’t my favorite shape for pasta. Did you use both? Perfect with the martini and Mad Men, excellent living.
Don’t be nervous. Follow it exactly. It’s the best!!!
Wendy…Just the picture and the first few words of your post gave me hunger pangs. I’m not kidding. Now I’m going to have to convince the Outer Banks crew to include pesto in tonight’s dinner!
This recipe will not disappoint.
I have this cookbook, but have never used her pesto recipe. The butter additions sounds interesting! And my basil is doing rather well, though it’s a bit early for harvest.
The butter adds creaminess and makes the pesto even more scrumptious.
Spaghetti with pesto is one of those dishes that looks pretty, smells divine, and when you begin to eat it just seems to disappear. It’s so good, I find myself wrapping spoon upon spoon, and savouring that fresh basil/cheese/garlic combo until it’s utterly gone. Very rarely are there leftovers, for some reason. One of the most magical combinations of flavours, and definitely keep the butter!
Thanks to whoever thought of putting that combination of food together. Yum!
Just made this for some fettucine with roast chicken – fabulous! Thanks for sharing.
Cheers!
Yum. I’m making this again over the weekend with basil from my new plant.