Homemade Pesto Sauce
Pesto Sauce
Equipment
- Measuring Equipment (Scale/Teaspoon/Cup)
- Bowl
- Food Processor/Mortar
Ingredients
- 40 Grams Fresh Basil Leaves, Packed (2 Cups)
- 33 Grams Pine Nuts (1/3 Cup)
- 37 Grams Freshly Grated Romano or Parmesan-Reggiano Cheese (1.3oz)
- 3 Cloves Garlic, Minced (3 Teaspoons)
- ½ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- 1/8 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Pulse the basil and pine nuts in a food processor.
- Add the garlic and Parmesan cheese and pulse several more times.
- While the food processor is running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady small stream. This will help it emulsify and help keep the olive oil from separating.
- Occasionally stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor.
- Stir in salt and freshly ground black pepper, add more to taste if desired.
Simpler Than You Realize
Pesto is a fairly easy ingredient/sauce to find, even in Japan. Although in the Far East it is priced far too high for the tiny jar of green goop you get. To be completely honest, I’ve never purchased pesto. It’s quite easy to make and quick to make, and tastes infinitely better than anything you buy in a store. I usually don’t use it as a sauce, but rather as an ingredient in other recipes. Most notably our Pesto Filling (recipe coming) that we stuff our Spinach Tortellini with (recipe here). That said, there is nothing wrong with using this as your sauce. Go for it.
A food processor or blender will make quick work of the mixing task. You can cut your cooking time down to about 5 minutes, maybe even less after you’re used to do it.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a mortar instead. It will take a bit more time and a lot more elbow grease, but that’s how everyone did it in the old days. I have some experience making curry paste and other ingredients in mortar, and I’ll glad take the food processor any day.
We have a few food processors and blenders in our kitchen. Our go to blender is the Vitamix E320 blender.
Vitamix Blenders are overpriced in Japan, so if you’re going to get one don’t go through Amazon or Rakuten. It’s best to do it through Costco Japan. Still too expensive, just less so.
Pining for the Right Ingredients
Perhaps the most unfamiliar ingredient in this recipe are pine nuts. They pop up a lot in Mediterranean food and Middle Eastern dishes. Pine nuts are fairly easy to find, even in Japan. I’ve seen them stocked in a number of supermarkets, albeit in tiny packages. Rather than buying a huge package, you’d be better off getting something small.
If you really can’t be bothered to get pine nuts, walnuts work as an excellent substation. I did this the last time we made Spinach Tortellini and I was quite happy with the end result.
As I’ve said in many recipes, it’s important to use good quality ingredients. Don’t skimp on the quality of your oil, or try to use some other cheaper type of oil. Source some authentic and quality EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL.
We use the Kirkland brand and we highly recommend it. Not just us, but a number of other chefs and reviews consistently put the Kirkland brand on their list.
Feel free to do your own research. You can also check out this article from NY Magazine; ‘22 Best Olive Oils According to Chefs.’
If you’re not a Costco member, you can still buy Kirkland products from various online retailers and shops. You will pay a step in price, however.
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I can’t stress this enough; use real Parmesan cheese. Upgrade your life and stop using those plastic containers filled with preservatives and cheese flavored garbage. Once you do you’ll never look back. It makes such a difference in the taste, adding a nice sharp bite. In the US, any quality delicatessen in supermarkets or Italian specialty shop should sell real cheese. Most will also grate it for free, if you ask them. Real Parmesan cheese is going to cost more, but aren’t you worth it?
We get our cheese from Costco, as they have the highest quality product in our area and easily the best prices. It’s definitely the best option if you’re in Japan.
If you’re in the Tokyo area, you could also try stopping into the Italian shop Dolce Vita (Google). They have a great stock of Italian food, but prices are at a premium. Pre-Covid time they had a giant Parmesan wheel near the door where they gave out free samples. They had a bunch of other cheeses you could sample as well. Not sure what things are like at the moment.
Costco, or Dolce Vita, won’t grate your cheese for you, so you’ll need to either use a blender, food processor, or hand grater.
Blenders work amazing well and giving you a fine, powder-like finished product. A food processor will get the job done, but the chucks will be bigger and coarser. Of course, a hand grater is going to be a lot of work with the biggest pieces of all the methods mentioned.
Having used all three methods, blending is the quickest, easiest, and gives the best overall results. We use the Vitamix E320 blender to get this job done in our home.