Pesto Ingredients

Beside salt and pepper to taste, there are some other ingredients for a real pesto sauce, worth to be served as the delicacy pesto can be. We will discuss here the most important ones and leave the rest to the actual recipes.

Fresh basil leaves

Fresh Basil Leaves

Fresh basil leaves are the traditional foundation of green Pesto sauce as we usually know it from Genoa, Liguria in North Italiy. Basil is what gives the Genovese Pesto its typical flavor and the green color. Some recipes and variations might vary basil with parsley, either partly or even completely.

When washing the basil leaves you should be careful not to break them, as they might use their flavor. Just use very slow running water or simply a wet towel.

Credits for the picture go to Wikipedia.

Fresh garlic

Fresh Garlic

Fresh garlic will add to the typical pesto flavor, whether it is the green one, or the red one. Garlic is often used in the Mediterranean cuisine and features strong benefits for your health. It is even known as a natural antibiotic and home remedy for light colds. When it comes to pesto, though, we appreciate it for its flavor, while you might add some parsley to combat its best known side-effect: the smell.

You should opt whenever possible for fresh garlic instead of the garlic powder you might find in stores, as you will get a much better result. Before crushing the garlic with mortar and pestle, you can mince it. If you use a blender for your pesto preparation, this step is optional. Credits for the picture go to Wikipedia.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Olive Oil – Extra Virgin

The best choice for pesto is without any doubt olive oil. Olive oil is not only said to be very healthy – such as being able to prevent cardiac diseases and lowering the cholesterol level – but widely appreciated for its strong and typical flavor. As we are looking for a superior taste for our pesto, you are strongly advised to get Extra virgin olive oil, but at least Virgin olive oil. Virgin olive oil means that the oil has not been subject to any chemical treatment and was yield with physical means, only. Extra on the other hand means that acidity will not exceed 0.8% while virgin may contain up to 2%. Be careful with other labels: “refined” is a label used for chemical treatment, “pomace” indicates the oil was yield using chemical solvents applied to the pomace, while “pure” olive oil is usually a mixture of the first and the latter. In conclusion: for the best culinary (and health-) experience, you are likely to be best off with Extra virgin olive oil.

Pine nuts, peeled and ready to be used for your pesto sauce

Pine Nuts and Why to Chose Them (Mostly)

Pine nuts, or Pinoli as the Italians call them, are an important ingredient for many recipes in the Mediterranean cuisine and play a crucial role when it comes to adding a special flavor to your pesto. Due to a high demand, pine nuts from Asia, i.e. China and Afghanistan, have gained some popularity due to their competitive price, yet, it is just not the same as the pine nut harvested from the European Stone pine and we want a best culinary result here. Furthermore, there are many good reasons to vary the taste of your pesto and, thus, use other nuts such as walnut, peanut or hazelnut. Even a tropical flavor, as to be achieved with the Brazil nut, might be desirable – if we choose to. But personally I prefer to spend a few bucks more when it comes to commercial pesto, and get it with pine nut, rather than being the trash can who pays much for those who produce cheap when using peanuts for pesto.

Sun dried tomatoes

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Sun dried tomatoes are used for pesto rosso, the red tomato pesto stemming from Sicily. First usage is known from Southern Italy, where peasants tried to keep tomatoes, their flavor until the cold winter days. Today, sun dried tomatoes are rather a delicacy, what is not only due to the fact, that about 17 to 30 lbs of tomatoes are needed to gain some 2.5 lbs of dried tomatoes. They are pretty much appreciated for their very intensive flavor, while their nutritional value is fully kept. Pesto rosso depends on this very feature of sun dried tomatoes and if prepared well, may even give you the feeling of just being there: Sunny Italy.