Basic Pesto Sauce

I freeze pesto in large plastic ziplock freezer bags, squeezing out all of the air, closing and then patting the pesto into a thin layer. You can break off what you need, and because the layer is thin, it will quickly defrost and come to room temperature. Blanch the basil if you want bright green. Try walnuts if you cannot get great pine nuts. Some sources say you should not add nuts and cheese before freezing pesto, but in my experience, the nuts and cheese do just fine.``

Courtesy of Marcella Hazaan, pesto freezes well--minus the dairy. Something to consider when basil is abundant and cheap during the summer. She also uses a combo of 3 parts Parmesan to 1 part pecorino, plus some added butter which transforms this recipe into a real mother of a sauce.

At cooking school in Italy I was taught to blanch basil for pesto and basil oil to keep it bright green indefinitely. Drop into boiling water, stir, drain as water returns to the boil (a few seconds) and immediately put into an ice bath. It doesn't affect the flavor. I notice some other recommendations for blanching and I agree.

Actually, it isn't. Marcella Hazan uses butter (common in norther Italy, supposedly; my family is from the south) and two types of cheese--parmigiano and romano. I know because I made it yesterday, and it's still the best pesto recipe I have ever used, though it is also the only one!

She also doesn't toast the pine nuts, though that could be interesting.

I disagree with the recommendation to pulse the nuts so finely. The nuts add a nicer texture if not turned into meal/dust.

Beverly Dame: Re question about how to tell if pine nuts are from Italy, Italian (& Turkish & American) pine nuts are more ovoid, egg shaped, whereas Asian pine nuts are rounded. Sadly most sold in US are from China as less $$. Even those sold by places like Whole Foods. The processing chemicals used in China to remove pine nut shells can lead to "pine nut mouth". I had it once. Three weeks of bitter taste for anything I consumed, even water. Stopped using China sourced.

In 2015 The NY Times had an article about pine nuts being depleted from the ecosystem that depends on them.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/opinion/making-pesto-hold-the-pine...

They suggested substituting walnuts, cashews, pistachios and even almonds in place of the pine nuts.

Pesto has been a staple of mine for years, but I use different proportions and make it dairy-free. I double the pine nuts (about 2/3 cup), use 4 cups of basil (or about one large package from my local supermarket), and I use only about 1/4 cup of olive oil. I also add a bit of lemon juice, and omit the cheese entirely. The trick is to toast the pine nuts on an ungreased pan as the first step, and then run them through the food processor, followed by the basil, and then the other ingredients.

When my pesto with cashews was ready to Server I womdered how to get it out of the food processsor without wasting a lot. Here is my solution: Most of the pesto went into a twist-off-glas to store in the fridge. From the freshly cooked pasta I put a cup of the cooking water into the food processor to pulse with the rest of the pesto into a creamy light sauce to pour over the pasta. Grated pecorino on the side if desired. Truely delicious!

I make pesto with pepitas and/or sunflower seeds, so that my kid can take it to nut-free kid environments. It's good.

I put my pesto in ice cube trays and freeze. I get individual portions without the pesto going bad.

Too much raw garlic! I'd use only one small clove to 2 cups of basil leaves. If you add about a 1/2 cup of flat leaf (Italian) parsley leaves along with the basil, the sauce will maintain a brighter green color.

Made this following the recipe to the T and using home-grown basil and it was delicious. Thinned the final product out with a little EVOO and drizzled it over Marcella Hazan's Roasted Chicken with Lemons — a perfect combo. Froze the leftovers, following instructions in other comments. Definitely a keeper.

Pine nuts are traditional. But here is the South it’s pecans. I used walnuts for ever until one day I had enough of what to me was a slight bitter taste in my pesto. I used some pecans and it changed my pesto forever. Pecans are slightly sweeter but have a much more shuttle taste. “In the background” as my chef grandfather used to say when adding minor ingredients.

If you do use pine nuts just be absolutely sure they are verifiably from Italy and not from China!

Pesto keeps longer than 3 days IF: Cover the pesto COMPLETELY with EVOO in a closed, air-tight GLASS container. Keep ALL of the inside of the container and inner lid above the pesto ABSOLUTELY clean or THIS part will turn black (trouble) and you don't want this to harm your pesto especially when you try to remove any of the pesto for use later. Do this EACH time you store it. Refrigerate. Recipes might add oil on top but don't mention the need to KEEP the inside of the container CLEAN.