Green pesto

Receta en español aquí

Basil is an herb originally from Asia but now widely used in the Mediterranean cuisine. Every year  in spring I sow a pot of basil and I have fresh leaves all the summer to make sauces or salads.

One of my favourite recipe with basil is  the Green pesto. I use this sauce for appetizers, pizzas, pasta, toasts etc ... You can even freeze it in ice cube trays to go using it later ... I personally prepare a small amount to spend on the day.

Little by little I will give you more ideas for use it.

Ingredients  100 g (this is enough for a pizza for example)

20 to 30 g fresh basil leaves

75 ml or 50 g  extra virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

30 g  shredded Parmesan cheese (or other aged cheese)

10 g pine nuts

1/4 tablespoon coarse salt (be careful with salt) plus more to taste

Directions

The meaning of blanching is  to partly cook  something to preserve their flavor and color. If we want this pesto to remain bright green  more days, you have to blanch the basil leaves before. However if you are going to use it  immediately, you can skip this step.

To blanch: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare a large bowl of ice water.

Put basil leaves in the boiling water. Cook 15 seconds and drain.

Immediately put basil in ice water. Swish around until completely cooled. Drain and, using your hands, squeeze water from basil leaves.

Pesto:

Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Whirl until completely pureed  and  mixture is uniform. (I used a hand-held blender).It's very important to use a high quality oil.

Store, covered and chilled in the fridge up to one week, and frozen up to 6 months.