Pasta con pesto

According to Wikipedia, the word pesto comes from the word pestâ, which means to pound. Which means that to make real pesto, you have to pound your way into the sauce instead of using a food processor or any such contraption.

My arms were tired after using my trusty wooden mortar and pestle to crush the basil leaves; I should have used marble, but I don't have one of those. Even after all the work and its resulting pain, it's worth it.  As a side note, I prefer a wooden mortar and pestle because it catches on the smell of the garlic. That's how you know it has been used to make many bellies happy.

Incidentally, the garlic is the first thing I always crush. I'll give you the list of ingredients:

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• olive oil

Honestly, I'm making up the amounts. I kept adding the stuff until I felt it was enough, but those amount should be fairly accurate. Enough for two servings. Anyway, start by crushing the garlic, as previously mentioned. Heat up a small pan and use it to lightly toast the pine nuts. I said lightly, you don't want them too brown. Really. Mix them in with the garlic and keep crushing. Now add the basil leaves. Have fun crushing them for a while. I always find it useful to add salt at this point. The salt is a bit coarse and tends to help in breaking the leaves. Don't make it too salty, though.

When you're finally tired, you would think you're done. Well, you're not. Add the cheese now and keep crushing until everything feels like a hard paste. Now it's time to add the olive oil. How much? I don't know. I just keep adding until it's the consistency I want, which is basically when I can pour it from the mortar and mix it evenly with the pasta without it being too thin.

Talking about pasta, I should have told you to start boiling some pasta before starting. If you had as much trouble as I did crushing the leaves, the pasta would have been done by the time you were finished with the pesto.

A curious thing here is that I decided to garnish the dish with some basil leaves and tomatoes before taking the picture. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked at the picture and saw the colors of the flag of Italy.

Victor recommends: 

Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 51-Ounce Bottle

Manufacturer: Bertolli

Part Number:

Price: $19.99