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Italian Pesto Sauce

Prep

Total

Yield 6-8 TBS of pesto

We stopped in Genova during a vacation to the French and Italian Riviera's in Summer of 2018 to learn how to make the original Pesto. Genova is the birthplace of pesto, salami, and Christopher Columbus. 

My hubby Mike is such a huge fan of pesto so this was a bucket list dream for him to learn how to make the best pesto in Italy. We learned so much during this cooking class and highly recommend anyone visiting Genova to try it. You will also learn the history and culture of the Genovese people along with traditional cooking techniques.

They are very serious about their pesto as you will see in the following recipe. To further assure you are making genuine pesto, the chefs recommend DOP products. DOP stands for Denominazione di Origine Protetta, the Italian term for the EU system of Protected Designation of Origin. These are EU laws that the names of specialty food products with a specific geographic origin. This is applied typically to cheeses such as Gorgonzola and Parmigiano-Reggiano. If you see it on a restaurant's menu or food label, it is expressing the product is of genuine article sourced from the the correct region. 

Although it's highly recommended to use the DOP products, it's not always practical or easy to find. We use high quality ingredients that are not DOP from our local stores at home and the recipe still comes out phenomenal. 

We make this recipe all of the time at home and use it in many different entrees. Each time we do, it whisks us back to the wonderful time in Italy. We hope you will find this to be a staple in your home too.

Buon Appetito!

We had such a great time with our hosts and chefs Cristina and Mario. Read more about our experience in Genova and taking this course here: The Bristol Palace Hotel and Pesto Pasta Cooking Class in Genova, Italy

To book a class in Genova, contact Creativvando:

16124 Genova (Italy)*

tel +39 010 4037763

 

 

Ingredients

  • 1 or 2 Garlic cloves
  • 2-3 TBS pine nuts
  • 1 pinch coarse sea salt
  • 2 oz Ligurian basil leaves DOP
  • 1 TBS Pecorino cheese DOP
  • 7 TBS extra virgin olive oil from Liguria
  • 4-6 TBS parmesan cheese DOP

Instructions

CHEF'S NOTES & INSTRUCTIONS

Pesto is a cold sauce, synonym and symbol of Genoa and the whole Liguria, which few

decades is one of the most well-known and widespread sauces in the world.

The first traces of pesto we find even in 800 and since then, the recipe has always

remained the same, at least in home preparation.

To do the real pesto sauce takes a marble mortar and pestle of wood and a little

patience.

To prepare the pesto sauce should be first noted that the leaves of basil are not washed

but only cleaned with a soft cloth and that it is Ligurian or Genovese basil, narrow-leaved

(and not the southern large leaves).

  • We start preparing the pesto by placing the peeled garlic in a mortar and, after

worked with the tool, add the pine nuts.

  • "Crush" until the mixture has reduced cream
  • Add the basil leaves together with a pinch of salt, that will serve to better crush the fibers and

maintain a beautiful bright green color, crushed, then, basil against the walls of the mortar

rotating the pestle from left to the right and at the same time rotate the mortar in the

opposite direction (from right to the left), taking him by the "ears", or 4 round point that

characterize the mortar itself, keep it up until the basil leaves will not come out a bright

green liquid.

  • Add the cheese stirring continuously in such a way that they're going to make it even

creamier sauce, and finally the extra virgin olive oil that will pour in, stirring constantly

with the pestle. Mix well the ingredients until you get a smooth sauce.

Notes

DOP stands for Denominazione di Origine Protetta, the Italian term for the EU system of Protected Designation of Origin. These are EU laws that the names of specialty food products with a specific geographic origin. This is applied typically to cheeses such as Gorgonzola and Parmigiano-Reggiano. If you see it on a restaurant's menu or food label, it is expressing the product is of genuine article sourced from the the correct region. 

Although it is recommended by the chefs to use DOP products, it's not always practical or easy to find. We use high quality products from our local stores that work just as great! Do not worry about DOP labeling if your store doesn't have it. It'll still turn out phenomenal!

Courses Sauce

Cuisine Italian

 

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