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Posted on Fri, Jun 24, 2011 : 4:30 a.m.

Basil Pesto recipe benefits from roasting pine nuts and garlic

By Peggy Lampman

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Basil Pesto

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

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Peggy Lampman's Friday dinnerFeed

I'm sure there are one-hundred million recipes for basil pesto online, but indulge me as I throw mine into the ring. I can't call this a "classic" basil pesto, otherwise I would be making it in my mortar and pestle. However, this is my sure-fire favorite, close-to-classic, food processor pesto.

Many years ago, I used to teach cooking classes with Chef Rebecca Wauldron (director of prepared foods at Plum Market). We always did a summer class with dishes that could be made with pesto.

Chef Rebecca advised me to toast my pine nuts and garlic a bit before making the classic Italian condiment. This extra mini-step mellows and sweetens the garlic and lends a toasty note to the final product. Skip this step if you wish, but my palate prefers the outcome of pesto when following Rebecca's tip.

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I toast garlic cloves and pine nuts prior to using them in pesto.

Basil is so easy to grow, so that's what I used. And there is nothing like the smell of my fingers after I've just pinched back early morning basil — such sweet aromatherapy! They are selling bags of basil at the farmers market, and Hiller's always seems to have big bunches on display in their produce department. I purchased an excellent (well-priced) Reggiano cheese, pine nuts and extra virgin olive oil from Sparrow Market in Kerrytown.

I'll be using this to toss with pasta, of course. But I could also use extra as a crostini base, a vegetable dip, a condiment with fresh grill chicken or shrimp... and the list goes on.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups pesto
Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup pine nuts
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled
4 cups packed freshly harvested basil leaves, washed, stems and flowers removed
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup grated Parmigianno Reggiano*

Instructions

1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees.
2. Toast the pine nuts and garlic in the oven until the pine nuts are golden brown, 3-5 minutes.
3. In a food processor, puree the garlic with 2 tablespoons oil until smooth. Add the pine nuts to the bowl and, with off and on pulses, pulse until semi-pureed yet coarse. With a spatula, scrape garlic-nut mixture from the bowl into another bowl and reserve.
4. Place the basil leaves in the food processor and, with the addition of remaining olive oil, puree until smooth. Combine basil mixture with garlic-nut mixture. Stir in Parmesan and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. The pesto will remain fresh, tightly covered, several days refrigerated. (You may also spoon into ice cube trays and freeze them to use as desired.)

Looking for a specific recipe? Click here for dinnerFeed's recipe search engine; type the recipe or ingredient into the search box. I am a real-time food writer and photographer posting daily feeds on my website and in the Food & Drink section of Annarbor.com. You may also e-mail me at peggy@dinnerfeed.com.

Comments

E. Daniel Ayres

Tue, Jun 28, 2011 : 2:10 p.m.

With Pine nuts at $6-8 per cup if you can find them in bulk, I can't afford this recipie. Will the trees that produce high volumes of top quality pine nuts grow in SE Michigan clay? I'd plant a field full of them!

Nate Cradit

Tue, Jun 28, 2011 : 2:15 p.m.

Walnuts are a good alternative!