My Pesto is the Best-o

I love pesto. My parents always used to make fresh pesto with their Magimix when I was growing up. Fragrant and brightly colored from the fresh basil and pungent from a generous amount of garlic, it was always a special and loudly appreciated treat.

When I was a little older I remember going to my older brother's best friend's house for pesto dinners. They had a little ritual: every time we would go they would make pesto made from the Joy of Cooking. It was fun, and probably one of the first times that I was involved with a group of young people cooking and sharing dinner sans adults. It's also funny to think that two young men would be so obsessed with pesto. My brother and his friend would always get into the same fight over the amount of oil to use. Stubborn in his adamant belief that it is necessary to use a generous quantity of oil, my brother even encourages coating the top of the container of pesto with extra oil to keep it from turning brown. His friend, on the other hand, held equally strong feelings about using less oil (the original recipe calls for 3/4 cup). Regardless, their pesto was always delicious.

Nowadays, pesto pasta is one of my favorite dishes to make. Pesto is my boyfriend's favorite, and to my shock and horror he had never had a homemade version before I made it for him. Now he buys me pine nuts as a present (they are so expensive!), and he assures me every time I make a batch that it is "the best batch yet." If that's not encouragement I'm not sure what is.

Note: As much as I would like to agree with my brother (he is family after all) I have to agree with his friend in regards to the excessive amount of olive oil called for in the Joy of Cooking's pesto recipe. Other than that I've cut down a little bit on the parmesan (I like to sprinkle a little on top at the end), and I like to brighten the flavor of the sauce with a squeeze of lemon juice (which keeps the color bright too).

Basil Pesto

Adapted from the Joy of Cooking

Serves 4-6

Fresh basil (a large bunch, leaves washed and picked off the stems)

1/2 cup grated parmesan

2 cloves of garlic (or to taste, peeled and roughly chopped)

1/4 cup pine nuts (toasted and cooled)

1/4 cup olive oil

Lemon (to taste)

Salt (to taste)

Pasta

Using a food processor blend together the basil, parmesan, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and a squeeze of the lemon juice. Once everything is thoroughly blended, taste the pesto and season it with salt and add more lemon if it needs it. The flavors should be bright and strong and balanced.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta, then when it is done cooking scoop out a 1/2 cup of the cooking water and set it aside before you drain the pasta. Stir the pesto into the drained pasta and add a little bit of the cooking water if it needs it. (The hot starchy water will help the sauce get a creamy looser consistency.)

Dig in!

*If you want, you can add chopped up chicken or chicken sausages to the pesto pasta to make it heartier.*