Homemade Pesto – Easiest Meal Ever

February 21, 2013July 24, 2017 cheese, herbs, Italian, Mains, nuts, pasta, pesto

I love homemade pesto, and what an easy dinner it makes. Put a pot of water on to boil, and by the time your pasta is done, the sauce is made and you are eating.

I came home starving tonight, and I wanted to get dinner on the table as fast as possible. I looked in my pantry – mini wagon wheel pasta, done in 7 minutes, that was a winner, but what to put on it? I looked in my fridge, saw a bunch of arugula left over from pizza night, and it hit me – just make pesto.

Basic Pesto Proportions

2 cups packed greens/herbs – traditionally basil, but tonight I used arugula
Handful of nuts – 1/4 to 1/2 cup, traditionally pine nuts
Grated cheese – 1/4 cup – traditionally parmigiano reggiano
1 large clove of garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper to taste
water – optional

This is so simple, I hesitate to call it a recipe. All you do is add the above ingredients to your food processor or blender and let it run until you have a unified mass of thick, green deliciousness.

A couple of notes/tips…

I always use raw nuts and toast them lightly before using them in the pesto. You can use skip this step or use already roasted nuts, but I prefer my way for two reasons. 1) Toasted nuts have more flavor than raw nuts and 2) Pre-roasted nuts almost always come salted, and I prefer to control the seasoning myself.

While parmigiano reggiano is classic, pecorino romano, or any other strong hard cheese makes for a lovely addition.

I have ranges in the ingredients, because it’s super easy to adjust and personalize pesto to your own tastes. If it is your first time, I’d start with the lower amount and up the individual ingredients to taste.

I like to process my pesto to different textures/consistencies depending on what I’m using it for. If I’m using pesto to garnish a protein like steak or chicken, I like to keep it pretty rustic and chunky. If I am using the pesto as a sauce, I like it smooth and silky. If I’m adding it to hot pasta, I don’t add water. If I am using the pesto as a salad dressing or veggie dip, I add a little water.

Tonight’s Dinner

Tonight, I used the arugula pesto with wagon wheel pasta and halved cherry tomatoes. Once my water was boiling, I liberally salted it and added my pasta. Seven minutes later, I drained the pasta (reserving a cup of the cooking water) and dumped the steaming pasta right onto my pesto and halved tomatoes. From there, stir to combine, using the pasta water to thin the sauce if it is too stiff or dry. Top with a little extra grated cheese and that was dinner in 15 mintes. Not bad, eh?

Pesto Variations

Of course, the classic pesto everyone thinks of is basil, pine nuts, cheese and oil, but why stop there?

Play around with greens (spinach works nice, and zucchini makes a happy simple base you can add herbs to) and if I’m short on basil, I’ll use basil and add whatever greens or herbs I have handy. The process is always the same: add different herbs, change up the nuts, (pine nuts and almonds are my favorites, but walnuts are nice too and I’ve seen people use pepitas and other seeds in the mix) and have fun with the cheese. When I’m feeling in the mood, I’ll also throw frozen veggies (peas are my favorite, but use whatever strikes your fancy) into the pasta pot for the last minute of two of cooking and mix those right in.

My pesto obsession right now? Almond and jalapeno. I had this for the first time this December at Amis, a Vetri restaurant in Philadelphia. They served it with bucatini and I loved it so much I immediately recreated it when I came home. It is simply blanched almonds, flesh of the jalapeno (my husband doesn’t like heat, so I skipped the seeds) lots of cheese, and extra virgin olive oil. I blogged about the recipe as well so if you want more details, please click here.