Pesto Cheat Sheet - Foodalisa
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Pesto-Cheat-Sheet

Pesto Cheat Sheet

A couple reasons why this is the best thing ever:

  • You can make a big batch of it and it freezes beautifully. You do NOT have to be all extra, and freeze it in ice cube trays or whatever you saw on buzzfeed. Just throw it in a mason jar and take a spoon to it when you get the itch. Throw what you’ve managed to scrape out of it onto hot, loosely drained pasta and voila, magic.
  • It’s really good for next day lunch because it doesn’t really need to be reheated.
  • Maybe you’ve noticed a trend here but I like things to be variable. I like to switch it up! But this, this is one of the very few things I make exactly the same way every single time. That being said, sub almonds or walnuts for pine nuts, if that’s what the kids are doing.
  • I don’t know WHY the spinach here works so well. What I do know is the following: I’ve done purist basil pesto and it was not as good + spinach is cheap and basil is not.

PROTIP:
I recently learned a great way to store basil is upright in a glass with a little water. We’ve used this literally as a centerpiece on our table and had fresh basil for days.

Ingredients

  • One big bunch of basil
  • Major key: an equal amount of spinach
  • ⅓ cup pine nuts
  • ⅓ cup at least of grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano if that’s what you have on hand
  • Juice of one lemon (to be honest I forgot this last time and it was still good so don’t panic)
  • ½ olive oil (or more)
  • Salt

Tools

  • Food Processor

Recipe

  1. Put everything EXCEPT THE SALT in a food processor or a blender and let it run. Add olive oil until it’s the consistency of.. A sauce. I hope I don’t have to spell that out.
  2. TASTE IT. Then add some salt. Blend. Repeat until it’s seasoned. You don’t want to do this first in case you are like me and add a ton of (pretty salty) cheese.
  3. When you boil the pasta, drain it loosely so that some of the starchy water is still hanging out. This helps the sauce stick. You can put it back into the pot, add the sauce, and then leave it over the heat to get acquainted and if it’s too loose, it’ll easily thicken up.
    • If you EVER run water over your pasta after you’ve cooked it, just know I can feel it from where I am and it HURTS.
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