How to Make Pesto like an Italian Grandmother

You can substitute nuts like pecans or almonds, they must be toasted, it wil taste different but good. You can substitute cilantro for basil as well - great on burritos! No way! Stick to the real ingredients folks ;-)

Sorry for the delay in responding (this week has been unusually busy!) - regardless, it looks like you all came up with plenty of great suggestions on your own. I love reading them. Robin, I'm not exactly sure what the inspiration was behind the naming of Mattia, but HC's insight is interesting. I will ask her, I suspect there is a story there, but it might be a personal one. As far as the chop vs. smash debate goes: I've done pesto with the mortar and pestle before as well (also wonderful), but really love everything about this particular method and the flavor and texture it yields...

i would venture to say that the difference between home-grown and store-bought basil is more telling than technical differences in how you process it into pesto sauce. herbs are so easy to grow, and the quality difference is just too great to even remember it properly when you have accustomed yourself to grocery store substitutes.

Heidi, as always another fabulous entry. I can't wait for you to share the potato gnocchi recipe. I am a sucker for gnocchi; I see it on a menu I order it!

Heidi, I knew that you should chop by hand for better results, but I never heard that you should chop, add, chop, add and so on... I will definitly try this next time I make pesto! Thanks for all those details! Ps: The more I hear about your book, the more I itch to order it. Lucky amazon 's here!

@Heidi and especially @Fabien - a VERY IMPORTANT POINT from my Italian wife: Genovese basil (Ocimum Basilicum 'Genovese' I believe, aka 'Lemon Basil'), like the basil grown throughout Provence, just down the coast in France, does *not* have very large leaves! The fully mature leaves are small and flat compared to the curled variety commonly found in the US and elsewhere. They are also a lighter shade of green and have a delicate flavor all their own. There are 150 types of basil (!) growing around the world (try making pesto with Thai basil for a wild variation), but for the true Genovese experience, making your pesto with this variety will take it to the next level.

I've also heard that pumpkin seeds can be substituted for pine nuts, but I haven't tried this yet myself. I have successfully used pumpkin seeds in place of almonds in a red mole sauce. (My fiancée is allergic to tree nuts, peanuts, some forms of soy, and, sadly, mushrooms.)

My suggestion would be to substitute the pine nuts for pistachios. You'll be surprised how much you won't miss the pine nuts. Of course, taste is a personal thing, but at least give it a try.

Ms. Swanson, I've used sharp kitchen scissors to good effect on herbs to avoid the darkening / brusing. If one is lacking a mezzaluna or half-moon pizza cutter, they might serve as well. Just a thought... -Jonathan

I've always toasted the pine nuts before chopping, to bring out more flavor. Is that not the case here?

Oh my! I just "food processed" my way to sun dried tomato pesto last night. When I told my mom about your post, her reply (since 1/2 my family is from Genoa) was - "Yes, how else should it be made?" Thanks mom....Missed that in my home-culinary lessons...ha! ha! ha! Thanks for this. I can't wait to try it.

I'm pretty attached to my (American I guess!) pesto recipe but some time will have to try this traditional way, I do love pesto!

Thanks for that. In Katrineholm, Sweden we have pretty good pesto.

My husband bought your beautiful cookbook for me at Prairie Lights Bookstore, Iowa City, IA. I love it. Thanks for writing/photographing it.

In Frankfurt we have a herb based sauce called „Grie Soß” (green sauce) which is very different to pesto, but its secret is the same: chopping it instead of blending because otherwise the sauce turns bitter and the very different tastes of the (seven) herbs mix too much. Although I have always made pesto in the mortar I’ll try this, hoping for a more rough but singular taste of every ingredient. And to add one ingredient after the other just makes it easier to chop, I suppose. Thank you very much. (But: I wouldn’t wash the basil. And I’d add some salt and more oil, if you want the pesto last. Sorry for Denglish)

This recipe sounds fantastic, and being Italian, myself, I can tell it is made the old-fashioned way.

I can't wait to try making pesto this way. It doesn't sound overly difficult, and I can tell from the recipe that my dear Italian grandmother, would have used a recipe like this, in her life time. Thank you.

Guilty as charged -- I rely on my Cuisinart to make pesto, but after this post I will reconsider next time. Last year I did grow my own basil in window boxes off my railing, and while they did have a superior flavor to the bland store-bought creatures, they still didn't compare to basil in Italy proper. I don't know if it's the soil, the sun, the water, or just being in Italy that makes the difference. I love, though, that in Italy you buy basil as a living plant in the produce section. The flavor begins draining from the leaves the second the plant is cut. I wish we had that in our grocery stores.

Beautiful! Yum!

Heidi, Regarding your plans to make a variation on the lasagne with pesto, my father-in-law (who lives near Florence) makes my favorite dish in the world which is simply alternating layers of bechamel sauce and pesto with lasagne. Put a generous dusting of parmesan/romano on each layer. Make sure you use a lot of the bechamel as it can turn out dry if you don't. When I was in Genova, as the commenter Andrea said, the pasta al pesto was prepared with boiled potatoes, which added an interesting texture and buttery flavor to the mix.