Danny Bowien's World Championship Pesto Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

How do you make Bobby Flay pesto? ›

And it's those herbs—specifically basil—that makes pesto a bright mouthful of summer. Recipes often vary, but basic preparations always center on the previously mentioned basil, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil, with Italian cheeses like parmigiano reggiano and pecorino romano.

Pesto Rosso, or red pesto in Italian, is a pesto that is tomato-based instead of the more classic green basil pesto Genovese. There are fresh versions of pesto rosso that use fresh tomatoes, but for this version, we're using umami-packed sun-dried tomatoes.

First, make the pesto: peel the garlic clove and pound it with a little sea salt. Add the pine kernels and continue until you have coarse paste, then introduce the basil leaves and mash everything to a thick green mixture, introducing a little of the olive oil if it becomes stiff.

Add nuts, garlic, zest of 1 lemon and salt to a food processor and pulse into a fairly smooth paste. Add cheese to nut paste and add about 3 tablespoons EVOO; process until smooth. Pulse process basil into sauce until fairly smooth, adding juice of 1 lemon and remaining EVOO.

You'll want to be mindful of the sodium content. Some jars have more than 500mg per serving and the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines recommend you eat no more than 2,300mg per day. It would be hard to stay within those guidelines if you get more than 20% of your sodium from pesto.

The most common reason for pesto tasting bitter is that the olive oil is past its best and has started to turn rancid. If the pesto has been made in a food processor or blender, there's also the possibility that it has turned bitter from the crude, sheering action of the blades.

Its scarcity, plus the fact that the plants are picked roots, soil, and all to ensure that only juvenile leaves make it into pesto, makes it extraordinarily expensive and something that only premium, artisan pesto makers can justify using.

Similar to oil-based sauces, pesto is served best with longer cuts of pasta, like the corkscrew shape of Fusilli. Pesto works best with Bucatini, Capellini, thinner Spaghettini, and Fettuccine.

Today, pesto Genovese is the condiment that best represents Genovese and Ligurian cuisine, and this is why the most famous pesto in Genoa, produced by the Rossi family since 1947, is distributed throughout Italy and in over 15 countries worldwide, sold to restaurants, pizzerias, delicatessens and stores of all sizes, ...

What do Italians do with pesto? ›

Italian Tradition

Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with a dish of trofie (the traditional Ligurian short pasta), lasagna, potato gnocchi or as a topping for a bowl of minestrone. It can be mixed into tomato sauce to enhance the flavor of pasta dishes or used with fish fillets to make them more appetizing.

Oxidation - exposure to air. To reduce exposure, blend pesto very well in olive oil. Put in lidded jar. Cover the top with olive oil to eliminate air.

And (rest assured you're not alone with this issue) it all too quickly oxidizes, turning from bright green to muted olive green to, eventually, unsightly brown. Note that what looks brown won't taste green either: It's an indication that the mixture's bright aroma has turned the wrong way too.

The salty, starchy pasta water will loosen the pesto enough to make a light sauce over the pasta. Because of its salty, starchy quality, this water will make a more flavorful, thicker final pesto sauce than regular water would.

The basic ratio is 1:2:2:8 (1 part nuts, 2 parts oil, 2 parts grating cheese, 8 parts leaves or herbs), plus garlic, lemon, and salt and pepper to taste.

THE BOTTOM LINE: While we don't recommend using the thicker stems from a bunch of basil, it's perfectly fine to make the most of your basil bunch and put the younger, more tender stems to use. 1. Don't process thick stems in pesto.

The easiest way to thicken your pesto sauce is to add cornstarch. In a small bowl, start with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and add an equal amount of cold water or vegetable broth. Mix until it becomes a smooth paste; this is called a slurry. Whisk in a little at a time as in not to over thicken your pesto sauce.

FAQ: How Long Does Homemade Pesto Last? You can store this basil pesto in a jar or sealable container, then tightly seal and refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 2–3 months. Let it thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator.