Stinque Recipe Challenge

It’s spring, so it’s got to be pesto. Such a simple recipe we should be able to do it in one film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VONA1zQBg2U

Quantities after the jump.

½ cup pine nuts (toasted in a nonstick pan)

3 cloves garlic

¾ cup (or a bit more) of freshly grated Parmesan or Romano (I like to use both)

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. sugar

3 cups medium-packed basil leaves, washed and stemmed (you don’t have to stem the leaves, but I am a bit anal about my pesto)

 

¾ cup olive oil

17 Comments

” . . . I am a bit anal about my pesto . . . ” I note that the video is set to private.

@redmanlaw: I should set this nonsense on public? Perhaps …

@blogenfreude: Unless you’re playing a meta gag about posting videos nobody can see, “public” is a reasonable option.

I use walnuts in my pesto. They’re cheaper and, for me, they’re a standard pantry item, like flour & sugar.

Also, too, if you’re going to freeze your pesto, wait until you’re ready to use it to add the garlic. It totally loses its flavor with freezing.

P.S. The video is still private!

Upon watching video – camera angle wrong, and I forgot to put last 1/4 cup of olive oil in (which I did later) – still pretty damn good pesto.

@nojo: Thought I had it set to where only people w/ link could see … now they’re all public. You can watch my taxi ride to the shrink!

Hey! “Liar”? Really? I challenge you to a pesto duel!

@karen marie has her eyes tight shut: You are the spawn of Satan. Small Italian grandmas would hold up a cross if you held up a walnut. What’s next? Cilantro pesto?

@blogenfreude: “With link” means direct URL to YouTube page. Doesn’t include embedding.

But you can set each video individually. The taxi ride can remain private.

@nojo: Meh – we all live online at this point …

Should have said – variation on this recipe is throw some sundried tomatos in (and some of the oil they’re packed in) … delicious.

@blogenfreude: This would be perfect on the gnocci I bought at Trader Joe’s last weekend. And I’m in the pine-nuts-or-bust camp as well. Also, I made piperade (with a few changes) last week. Had it plain, over couscous, and over scrambled tofu. All were delicious.

Heading to the store now for ingredients. Joy of Cooking (doubling the recipe to match yours) calls for 3 cups basil, 4 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup pine nuts, 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, and 1 1/2 cups olive oil. No salt or sugar.

@mellbell: Verdict: Joy of Cooking calls for too much olive oil and not enough basil. Ended up adding 3 more cups basil and a skosh more olive oil (bringing the total to just under 2 cups) to blend.

@mellbell: I like to put a handful of spinach in with the basil when making pesto. And I would use way more than 4 cloves of garlic with 1 cup of olive oil, but that may be a personal preference.

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