This is the authentic Pesto Genovese recipe traditional in the city of Genoa, "Cinque Terre" and in the region of Liguria! The ingredients? Fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt, parmigiano and pecorino cheeses and extra virgin olive oil!
To the chilled mortar (bowl) add: fresh garlic cloves and salt.
1 clove garlic, 1 pinch coarse salt
Mash the ingredients until you have a paste. Don't 'pound' with the pestle. Rather, press and move the pestle in circles to grind and mash.
Add around half of the pine nuts to the mashed garlic. Crush the pine nuts into a paste.
1 ¾ oz pine nuts
Add the fresh basil leaves, a handful at a time. Add a few more pine nuts with each handful of basil to help provide friction for mixing.
2 oz fresh basil
Finish adding the basil and mashing it.
Add the (finely grated) Parmigiano and Pecorino cheeses, a handful at a time.
1 ¾ oz pecorino cheese, 1 ¾ oz Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Add the olive oil and mix to combine. Continue mixing until you've made a smooth and creamy paste. Salt to taste if needed.
3 ½ tbsp olive oil
Buon appetito!
Video
Notes
Avoid heating the pesto!The trick to preserving the flavor of the fresh basil is to avoiding heating it while blending the ingredients. There are two tricks to this if you are using a food processor:
Chill the food processor bowl and blade before using them to make the pesto
Use quick, short pulses to blend. This avoids heating the blade.