Pesto Pasta Recipe

Pesto Pasta Recipe

• 3 cups packed fresh basil leaves
• 2 large fresh garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup blanched almonds
• 3/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• Salt, to taste

1. Begin by washing your basil leaves under cold water. Allow them to dry on a clean kitchen towel while you gather the rest of the ingredients.
2. In the bowl of a food processor: add your peeled garlic cloves, walnuts, almonds, and parmesan cheese.
3. Destem the now dry basil and measure three cups of the leaves, packing them firmly into your measuring cup.
4. Transfer the basil to the processor along with an ice cube or two, and blitz until everything is uniformly chopped.
5. With the processor running, pour in the oil and melted butter. Doing this while the processor is running helps to emulsify the ingredients and prevents the oil and butter from separating.
6. Season with salt to taste.
7. Toss with hot drained pasta or gnocchi if serving immediately or transfer to an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
8. Pesto also keeps well in the freezer, so you can enjoy this tasty summertime meal all year round!

1. Classically, pesto was made slowly and inefficiently by blanching the destemmed basil leaves and then using a mortar and pestle to crush them into a paste, along with a little garlic, pine nuts, and cheese. While some romanticize this method, it not only takes infinitely longer but also results in a product that lacks texture and color. Oxidized from the slow pounding and grinding of the pestle the vibrant green of the basil is often lost along the way. By using the food processor, we can skip the blanching altogether. Adding an ice cube into the mix while we pulse the ingredients allows us to capture the leave’s verdant green color. The cold cube shocks the herbs and prevents them from browning, giving you a quick, delicious, and beautifully green pesto with a fraction of the effort.