Ingredients
- 3 cups lightly packed fresh basil
- 1 cup lightly packed Italian parsley leaves
- 1/2 cup pure olive oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts, see note
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon powdered ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Directions
Prepare a bowl of ice water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the basil and parsley in a sieve and plunge it into the boiling water, pushing the leaves down into the water and stirring them so they blanch evenly. Blanch for 15 seconds, then plunge the herbs into the ice water to stop the cooking. Drain immediately, squeeze the herbs dry, and roughly chop.
In a blender, puree the herbs with the oil, pine nuts, garlic, salt, pepper, and ascorbic acid. When well blended, add the cheese and whir briefly just to mix. Transfer to a bowl and adjust the seasoning. Store the pesto in a small, covered container in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks. Or freeze the pesto for as long as 1 month.
Note: I always toast pine nuts on a baking sheet in the oven. They tend to burn in a saute pan on the stove.
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By organik1
Columbus, OH
on August 29, 2010
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Thought the blanching was tedious, I added little lemon juice and rind, and instead of pine nuts, i used roasted almonds, and 1/2 cup ea of romano and parm, turn out delicious! Jean
By bbob_12445667
Dearborn, 62
on December 16, 2009
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Michael,
I have been using this blanching method of stabilizing the color of basil for several years now but this year I discovered an improvement to the blanching technique. Here's my suggestion: heat water in a double boiler bottom. Add the olive oil to the double boiler top and wait for oil to heat up then add all the basil in the recipe to the boiler top. Stir the basil and oil together and the basil will quickly wilt. When it does, remove the boiler top from the bottom and allow to cool. Now use the oil and basil in the recipe as usual.
This method stabilizes the basil color while not losing color and flavor to the blanching water. It is also a simpler process, avoiding cooling the basil in ice water and drying off the basil in a spinner or with cloth before using in the recipe. When I thought of this I considered it a stroke of genius, lol.
By jolenek
Everett, Wa./Hu...
on October 16, 2009
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fruit fresh will do the same as the ascorbic acid. Not fair to Michael with a perfectly delicious recipe to low-ball rate it when the problem was within yourself. Shame on you!
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