With summer in its final stretch and the basil thick and bushy, nothing holds on to the flavor of the season like a freshly made pesto sauce. The raw intensity of basil and garlic are just barely tamed by the richness of nuts, cheese and olive oil to create a harmony of flavors like no other. It is the taste equivalent of the late afternoon sun on your face.
Right here, in summer’s most voluptuous sauce, you can find the true soul of Italian cooking. It is the unfathomably complex essence of simplicity.
Pesto is native to the Ligurian region of Italy, with the city of Genoa acknowledged as its birthplace. And although influences from Arabia and Persia to regions surrounding the Black Sea have been cited as inspiration, most of pesto’s magic comes from the basil leaf itself. The sauce was born as a vehicle for preserving those delicate, minty jewels with their hint of anise and clove. And traditionally, of course, it was made by hand, ground up methodically in a mortar and pestle.
As the sauce became popular, it was adapted to local tastes and ingredients. More garlic here, some subtle changes in ratio of oil and cheese there. Pine nuts were added, and sometimes walnuts. Go south and you might find almonds or hazelnuts. Red pepper, black pepper. Perhaps a pat of butter. Even in Liguria, pesto differs slightly from town to town, and no doubt it differs from house to house. They are still pestos, though, and all heady with basil.
But pesto is a sauce whose name has become a culinary catchword, a trendy moniker that gets pinned on any condiment that comes along. Pesto impostors include the pistachio or spinach pestos created in the food processor and mint pestos with none of the original pesto ingredients. Mark Miller’s Southwest poblano pesto, for instance, at the Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, while a delicious salsa, is hardly a pesto. Other chefs experiment with fusion pestos made with Asian or Latin ingredients such as lemon grass, ginger or cilantro.
Technically pesto can apply to any pounded sauce (the word comes from the verb pestare, to pound or to mash), but for a long time it has commonly referred to one sauce only: the basil-based classic.
Fred Plotkin, in his book “Recipes From Paradise: Life and Food on the Italian Riviera,” helped clarify the sauce’s good name. His rich history of the Ligurian region and its cuisine dotes on pesto. Listing 16 subtle variations on the theme, he finally drops the word pesto altogether as he goes on to give a walnut sauce and a marjoram sauce that stray–with the absence of basil–too far from the base. But even those mortar-and-pestle sauces come closer to the true spirit of pesto than many of the sauces that now go by the name.
Pesto’s popularity really took off with the advent of the blender and food processor. But while making pesto became easier, it also opened the gate for all kinds of mutation.
The farther pesto traveled, the farther it traveled from pesto. By the food-crazed 1980s and ’90s, as traditional culinary boundaries fell, any sauce seemed to lay claim to the name.
Then again, in talking with chef Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia, it is clear that not everyone acknowledged the impostors to begin with.
“If you are in Italy, there is only one thing that’s called pesto,” he says.
Not only has he kept his pesto traditional, he serves it with corzetti, a coin-shape pasta that is cut out and imprinted on both sides with a small, hand-carved wooden tool made in the town of Chiavari on the Ligurian coast.
“You’ve got to know the culture to know the food,” he says.
“Italians may make a similar sauce with mint,” Mantuano adds, “but they don’t call it pesto.”
Chef Marcello Galagos of Vivere echoes the sentiment but is willing to broaden the definition a bit.
“Pesto is pesto,” he says. With his biggest influences decidedly more Tuscan, what he uses instead is called salsa di mille erbe–“sauce of a thousand herbs.” In addition to basil, olive oil, pine nuts and garlic, this sauce from Siena also has parsley, mint, oregano, chives, tarragon and chervil. And while Galagos doesn’t call it pesto, he does say that in a linguistic sense, it could be. “Anything with herbs is some kind of pesto.”
Both chefs agree that some of the sauces that sprang up with the name are excellent in their own right, but they like to keep the line clear. Take away the basil, and the name fades. Add too much to the basil, the same holds true.
“You can have a pistachio pesto’ with nuts, cheese, oil and garlic and it’s a great sauce,” Galagos says, “but it’s not really pesto.”
To the purist, pesto will always remain a showcase for basil. The taste is raw and bright with a fragrant sting.
At its simple best, toss it with your favorite pasta or gnocchi. Use it to sauce grilled fish or meat. Spoon a little on your bread. It is delicious with tomatoes. Finally, it is hard to resist savoring right off the spoon, to remind you that a few precious summer days remain.
THE HANDMADE CLASSIC CRIES FOR A MORTAR AND PESTLE
“Pesto is such an inspired invention that it survives almost anything, including our minty, large-leafed basil and the electric blender,” writes Marcella Hazan, in “The Classic Italian Cookbook.”
Although a blended pesto will be delicious, and certainly better than no pesto at all, there is nothing like the handmade classic.
A mortar-and-pestle version not only has a deeper, fuller flavor and fragrance, but it also holds together better because of its rough yet silky texture. The blender, on the other hand, makes smaller pieces of the basil by slicing them rather than pounding and the texture is not as silky.
So if ever you were looking for a way to slow down a summer that’s passing you by, take the extra half-hour to make a pesto by hand. The ingredients in the quick classic recipe on this page will work for either the mortar or in a blender or food processor. The difference is all in procedure. But if you would like to taste the best pesto ever, at least once you should try to pound one by hand.
For mortar pesto: In a large mortar (preferably made of marble for tradition’s sake), add the garlic and pine nuts with a good pinch of coarse sea salt, and grind them into a paste.
Add the basil, small bunches at a time, grinding it with a rotary movement against the side of the mortar. Continue working until all the basil is ground into a fine paste. Add the cheese and work in for a minute, until blended evenly. Finish by adding the olive oil a drizzle at a time, beating it into the mixture with a spoon. Continue until all the oil is incorporated and you have a smooth, rich pesto. Stir in the softened butter if you’re using it. Before tossing with pasta, stir in a tablespoon of the hot pasta water. It thins the sauce, and the heat opens the flavor and helps the sauce cling to the pasta.
AS YOU LIKE IT
Oregano and roasted garlic pesto. e oregano has an earthier flavor than basil.
Poblano pesto. For chili lovers, this is great with grilled meats.
Thousand herbs sauce. Actually, only seven fresh herbs are used.
Pesto. The classic, best made by hand.
SAUCE GUIDANCE
– Pesto is best uncooked. The heat of pasta, potatoes, fish or meat is all that is needed.
– From the basic recipe, go ahead and improvise. For instance, you might use fewer pine nuts and then add a few pistachios and toasted hazelnuts, a dash of red chili pepper and a pat of butter for balance and moisture.
– Use the best ingredients you can find: a good extra-virgin olive oil, avoiding an overly strong or spicy oil that might overwhelm the basil; freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and pecorino Romano, or if you can find it, a pecorino-Sardo (in equal parts with the Parmesan).
– If you grow your own basil and no chemicals were used, try to avoid washing the leaves, simply brushing dust or dirt away lightly with a towel. Use the smaller leaves if possible. Tear the larger leaves into smaller pieces by hand before starting.
– Many people say pesto freezes well. Again, some pesto is better than no pesto, but frozen pesto it is never quite the same as fresh. The basil flavor falls off and the heartier garlic takes over. If you do freeze it, leave out the cheese and butter until you thaw it for dinner. Larger quantities seem to freeze better than small. Fresh basil is available year-round, though, and a blender or processor version can be made in minutes, so freezing is not really necessary.
– Bottled pesto is a last resort. Several substitute canola or safflower oils for the olive oil. And even if you pay the high price for an Italian import, you can probably do better at home.
QUICK CLASSIC PESTO
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield: 1 cup
2 cloves garlic
2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Pinch kosher salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons softened butter, optional
1. Drop garlic through feed tube of running food processor; process until minced. Add basil, pine nuts, cheese and salt; process until mixture is finely ground, stopping occasionally if necessary to scrape down sides of workbowl.
2. Slowly pour oil through feed tube while processor is running; process until texture resembles smooth paste. Add butter if using; process. Transfer to small bowl or refrigerate pesto in airtight container up to 3 months.
Nutrition information per tablespoon:
Calories …………. 85 Fat ………… 8 g Saturated fat .. 1.7 g
% calories from fat .. 88 Cholesterol … 3 mg Sodium ……… 80 mg
Carbohydrates ….. 0.7 g Protein …….. 2 g Fiber ………. 0.3 g
OREGANO AND ROASTED GARLIC PESTO
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Yield: 3/4 cup
Adapted from “The Herbfarm Cookbook,” by Jerry Traunfeld.
1 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup each: oregano leaves, marjoram leaves, walnut pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons regular or roasted garlic paste
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Put all ingredients except oil in workbowl of food processor; pulse until mixture is finely ground. Slowly pour olive oil through feed tube while processor is running; process until texture is smooth.
Nutrition information per tablespoon:
Calories …………. 80 Fat ………… 8 g Saturated fat … 1 g
% calories from fat .. 88 Cholesterol … 0 mg Sodium ……. 100 mg
Carbohydrates ….. 1.6 g Protein …….. 1 g Fiber ……… 0.4 g
POBLANO PESTO
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 3/4 cup
This pesto, adapted from “Red Sage,” by Mark Miller, is a perfect teammate for grilled poultry or pork.
2 poblano chilies, roasted, peeled, seeded, diced, see note
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds or pine nuts, toasted, see note
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro with stems
1 serrano or jalapeno chili, optional
3/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Put ingredients except oil in workbowl of food processor; pulse until pureed. Add oil in steady stream while processor is running. Adjust seasonings.
Test kitchen note: To roast peppers, heat oven to 450 degrees. Place peppers directly on oven rack. Roast until skins are dark brown, about 15 minutes. Remove peppers from oven. Place in plastic bag, about 20 minutes. Remove from bag; peel skins. To toast seeds or nuts, heat skillet over medium heat. Add seeds or nuts. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly brown. Do not overcook.
Nutrition information per tablespoon:
Calories …………. 40 Fat ………..3.4 g Saturated fat .. 0.6 g
% calories from fat .. 73 Cholesterol … 0 mg Sodium ……… 50 mg
Carbohydrates ….. 1.4 g Protein …… 1.5 g Fiber ………. 0.3 g
THOUSAND HERBS SAUCE (SALSA DI MILLE ERBE)
Adapted from a recipe by chef Marcello Galagos of Vivere, who got it from La Locanda Dell’Amorosa in Sinalunga, Italy, south of Siena.
1 clove garlic
4 mint leaves
1/2 cup each, fresh: basil leaves, chervil, flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons each, fresh: oregano leaves, chopped chives, chopped tarragon
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1. Drop garlic through feed tube of running food processor; process until minced. Add mint, basil, chervil, parsley, oregano, chives, tarragon, pine nuts and salt; process until mixture is finely ground, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of workbowl.
2. Slowly pour oil through feed tube while processor is running; process until smooth. Adjust salt if needed.
Nutrition information per tablespoon:
Calories ………. 75 Fat …………. 7 g % calories from fat .. 84
Cholesterol ….. 0 mg Sodium …….. 75 mg Saturated fat ……. 1 g
Carbohydrates .. 1.9 g Protein ……. 1.2 g Fiber …………. 1.3 g
