This year has been a great year for our basil. For some unknown reason (unknown because our summer has been a total washout) our basil plants went crazy - growing up to nearly three feet! This is probably not so amazing for you who live in a country where the summer is hot and where basil thrives, but here in wet and wild Ireland our basil bushes are practically miraculous.
So anyway last night we decided to harvest them. I wish I had taken a photo of the before, but above is the photo after (I'd just like to say that the basil on the table is from just one of the plants - it was alot of basil). We had so much that Eric decided to make pesto.
By the way, Eric would like this blog to be called Pesto is Besto (the trick is to say it in an Italian accent with lots of hand flourishes apparently), and in fairness how could I say no to a man who looked this cute in an apron?
Pesto does take a bit of time and effort, but if you have ever tasted fresh pesto then you know that it's worth it. Commercial store-bought pesto doesn't even come close. Eric uses a recipe by an Italian chef called Giorgio Locatelli. We got his book for Christmas and it has very interesting pieces on staples in Italian cooking like pesto.
It seems that every Italian family has their own recipe, which is usually a closely guarded secret. Even the Vatican kitchen apparently closes it's doors when they make pesto. Locatelli, himself, is a pesto-maniac. He has a restaurant in London but flies his basil leaves in from a particular place in Italy where the basil grows on a particular terrain that catches the sun at the right time of day. I'm sure the carbon foot-print makes it taste even better.
However, I shouldn't be giving Giorgio such a hard time since he is generously sharing his pesto recipe in his book. I'm sure it's a pretty basic recipe, but it's simple and tastes very good.
Ingredients:
150g basil
2 cloves of garlic
250ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons pinenuts
Step 1: Chop up garlic
Step 2: Measure out oil.
Step 3: Bung in blender with basil and the rest of the ingredients and whizz.
To be inserted: Photo of Eric happily eating a big bowl of pasta with pesto
And hey presto, pesto!
Posts
3 comments:
I have two contributions:
1. In the words of Siofra: "Sharing is caring." This applies to pesto, too.
2. Please teach me to use the word "bung" correctly. I feel uncomfortable with it, but I want to own it like you do.
Bung means to throw - it's English slang. I looked it up, just in case I was guilty of inappropriate use of bung.
Pesto is on us the next time you come over.
I agree, Eric does look cute in a blue apron. Is your pesto as good as Mom Eckhart's pesto?
Post a Comment