The topic of Italian cuisine is truly inexhaustible.Italians, who are fanatical about food, have come up with a lot of delicious dishes, and almost all of them have spread around the world and are loved in many countries - different from each other, with different cultural and culinary tastes, demands and preferences. Pizza, pasta, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses have long been global brands, but everyone knows that their homeland is Italy. Pesto sauce, which goes great with many products, is one of these brands. But, perhaps, pasta with pesto sauce can claim the title of a dish with an ideal combination of flavors. Today, this sauce can easily be bought in any supermarket, but we are talking about home cooking, which means that we will prepare the pesto sauce ourselves. Its recipe is not complicated, but its preparation requires, of course, certain skills. However, before publishing the classic recipe for the sauce, a little about the history of the issue. The birthplace of pesto is the Liguria region. The first recipe appeared in cookbooks in the second half of the 19th century. At the same time, the residents of the Liguria region believe that this is a very ancient recipe, invented by their ancestors many centuries ago. In fact, no one is going to dispute this fact. The main thing is that this delicacy has reached our times, and we have the opportunity to enjoy the amazing taste of such a dish, for example, as pasta and pesto sauce, which goes well with pasta of all kinds. However, this sauce will also decorate other dishes - meat, fish, vegetable. In modern cooking, both the classic recipe for pesto sauce and its varieties are used. To begin with, we will tell you about the basic techniques for preparing this dish. There are many subtleties here, and only knowledge of certain secrets will allow you to prepare the right sauce. Italian housewives today still prepare pesto in accordance with ancient prescriptions. The ancient recipe said that all ingredients should be ground in a marble mortar. Why exactly this is so, today no one really knows, however, if you want to achieve a real, authentic taste, then you should refuse modern beaters, choppers, blenders and give preference to the hand made method. It is unusual, long, but the result is worth it - at least that's what culinary gurus say. However, those who give up on all the subtleties and hassles will still be satisfied, since the final product is tasty even with an unconventional method of preparation.
Pesto
Ingredients:
- 2 bunches of green basil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 100 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- one third of a glass of pine seed
- 100 grams of pecorino cheese or Parmesan cheese
- sea salt to taste
Method of preparation:Wash the basil, dry it, chop it with a knife, put it in a mortar, add a little salt and grind it thoroughly to get a fairly homogeneous mass. It should be put into a suitable dish (ceramic, porcelain or glass) and add a couple of spoons of oil. Grind the garlic with salt in a mortar to a state of gruel and add to the basil. Dry the nuts in a dry frying pan, grind about two-thirds of the total volume in a mortar, leave the rest whole. Add nuts, cheese grated on a fine grater, the remaining oil to the sauce and mix everything thoroughly. At the end, add whole nuts. The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for several days, however, it is not recommended to add cheese - it can be added to the pesto immediately before use. You can also freeze small portions of the dish and use as needed. A popular variation of this sauce is all the same plus sun-dried tomatoes. Of course, this is a deviation from the canons, which are monitored in Italy by the Order of Pesto Lovers (imagine, such an organization exists), but such a seasoning fits perfectly into the standards of Italian cuisine. Regarding pine seeds (Italian pine). If desired, they can, of course, be found here, especially in those stores that specialize in selling Italian products. Well, and if it does not work out, then you can replace them with pine nuts, but this will not be a fully classic pesto recipe. Similar sauces are prepared according to the same principle (however, we would not call them pesto), in which parsley, cilantro, and spinach are used instead of basil. We are not even talking about pine seeds, and pine nuts are not used either - almonds or hazelnuts are put instead. In principle, this is also delicious, but the classic of the genre is the recipe given above. We have already noted that many dishes go well with this sauce, but pasta with pesto is especially loved by Italians.
Pasta with Pesto sauce
Ingredients:
- paste packaging
- 200 grams of pesto sauce (the recipe is given above)
- 100 grams of Parmesan cheese
- salt, pepper to taste
- basil greens
Method of preparation:Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Remember that Italians prefer pasta cooked "al dente", that is, slightly undercooked. Mix the hot pasta with pesto sauce, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Before serving, decorate the pasta with pesto with basil leaves. Try it, and you will cook pasta with pesto not only for your family, but you will also be able to please your guests, among whom there are probably connoisseurs of Italian cuisine in general and this dish in particular. Enjoy your meal! We recommend reading:
