Receta Greenest Basil Pesto Recipe
by Inspired Taste

Pesto is a pantry staple. Toss it with pasta for dinner, add a spoonful to brighten up roasted vegetables, throw it on top of soup or spread over bread for sandwiches. It’s brightly flavored and always adds the most delicious pop to whatever you’re eating.

When we’re overloaded with fresh basil, we love making it at home. Homemade pesto is really simple to make.

We do have one problem with it, though.

Pesto is supposed to be bright green and look fresh. It isn’t supposed to brown at the first sight of a food processor blade or hot pasta. Dull, brown or anything other than bright green basil pesto bugs us.

Our Mission to Figure Out the Greenest Basil Pesto Recipe

I don’t know how others do it, but every time Adam and I made pesto or tossed it with hot pasta, it browned and became dull — It can’t just be us, right?

We’re thinking no, so we went on a mission to find out how to make perfectly green basil pesto, every time.

The first thing we found was to add some fresh parsley to the mix — it won’t bruise or oxidize as quickly or easily as basil will. It works, but we’re usually inundated with basil leaves, not parsley. The idea to add parsley is a good one, but it wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. Another idea was to add some lemon or vinegar. The acid is supposed to prevent the browning. That’s fine, but we weren’t too sure about the flavor. We wanted pure basil pesto.

Then, we stumbled upon the idea to blanch the basil leaves. Seems a little weird, we know. We’re usually game for anything, so we tried it.

You know what? As weird as it sounds, it works — it works really well.

To blanch the basil, all we need to do is submerge fresh basil leaves into boiling salted water for 5 to 10 seconds — or just until they wilt. Then immediately plunge the wilted leaves into icy water.

At first, we thought this would be time consuming, but we’ve found that if you use a half-filled, small saucepan things go really quickly. (No need to wait for a large pot filled with water to boil).

The moment the basil hits the hot water it brightens in color — almost neon. Not only that, but by blanching, the enzymes that make the basil turn brown are dealt with.

From there, we squeeze the leaves dry and pat with paper towels (or a dish towel). They don’t need to be bone dry, just not dripping with water.

We should mention that the recipe below can be used for both methods: using blanched basil leaves or fresh basil leaves. We’re sold on blanching, but some have argued that it can steal some of the basil’s flavor. We haven’t noticed this at all — if anything, we thought the pesto was sweeter and more fresh tasting.

Cooking and pesto making are personal, so do what you love. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you have any pesto tips up your sleeves?

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Greenest Basil Pesto Recipe

This basil pesto recipe won’t turn brown the moment you make it or toss with hot pasta. By quickly blanching the basil, which takes under 10 seconds, we set the basil’s green color and help prevent it from oxidizing over time. It’s an extra step in making pesto, but it doesn’t take long to do. To cut down on time, use a small saucepan — you don’t need a big pot of water here, just enough to submerge the basil, which wilts into less than a cup.

Also, we are particular with how we add the garlic. We turn the garlic clove into a fine paste before adding it to the food processor. This way, it is completely broken down and is able to lend it’s flavor to the sauce. The time we take to process the pesto is not nearly long enough to break down the whole clove. Starting with a fine paste helps with this.

Special Equipment: Food processor.

Created By: Joanne and Adam Gallagher

Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients

2 cups (40 g) packed fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup (35 g) pine nuts, lightly toasted (see note)
1/2 cup (120 ml) olive oil, plus more for storing
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup (20 g) finely grated pecorino or parmesan cheese

Method

Prepare a small bowl of ice water. Bring a small saucepan, filled halfway with salted water, to a boil.

Submerge basil leaves in boiling water for 5 to 10 seconds, or until wilted. Then, immediately plunge into ice water to stop cooking. Drain, squeeze to remove excess water then pat with a dish towel or paper towels until mostly dry.

Smash and peel garlic clove then mince finely. Holding a chef’s knife at an angle, scrape the blade of the knife across the minced garlic. Gather it all together then scrape it against the board again until it becomes a very fine paste.

Combine garlic paste and the pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 2 to 3 times until everything is chopped small. Add basil then with the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl. Once all the olive oil has been added, check the consistency of the pesto — we like it to have some texture. If you prefer it smoother, pulse a few more times.

Transfer pesto to a bowl then stir in cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Use immediately or store for later.

To store pesto, add a thin layer of extra olive oil to the top (to prevent any air from getting to it), cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 to 2 weeks. (You can also freeze up to 1 month).

Notes

Pine Nuts: By toasting the pine nuts, they become nuttier and a little richer. It is an extra step, but we think it’s one worth doing. To do this, add the nuts to a small frying pan over medium-low heat. Staying close, occasionally swirl the nuts around the pan until lightly golden brown. Watch that they do not burn, they can go from toasted to burnt quickly. Another option is to add them to a small baking sheet and toast in a 350 degree F (177C) oven for 5 to 10 minutes. If you aren’t feeling like the extra step, use un-toasted nuts, the pesto will still taste great.

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About the Author

Joanne

I'm Joanne Gallagher and alongside my husband, Adam, I develop, test and share favorite recipes from our kitchen. I'm completely in love with food and you'll most likely find me covered in flour, chocolate or both.

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Receta Greenest Basil Pesto Recipe by Inspired Taste

Receta Greenest Basil Pesto Recipe
by Inspired Taste