B's Famous Pesto

I love my husband. Every now and then, he gets really interested a particular dish and wants to go deep and become expert. So, you can imagine my joy when he announced he had decided to master pesto. At first, he went old school, working by hand with a mortar and pestle. But now - the cuisinart is his friend. Before you get started, here are a couple of tips he's generously allowed me to share with you: 1) the key to a bright green pesto is blanching the basil 2) for us, pesto is more about basil and less about garlic - B uses almost a pound of basil for an average batch 3) his favorite pasta for pesto is linguini fini.

The recipe below is a general guide. Nowadays, B makes his batches from memory, adjusting seasonings as he goes. Bravo, Pepo! Bravo!

B's Famous Pesto

1 pound fresh basil leaves, thoroughly washed and patted dry

1-2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

1 cup freshly grated pecorino sardo 

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup nuts: a mixture of walnuts and pine nuts (emphasis on pine nuts)

Blanche basil very briefly and cool in an icebath. Drain and squeeze out excess water. Put basil, cheese, nuts and garlic in a food processor and blend for a few seconds. With motor running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream until incorporated. Taste, adding salt as desired.