MONITOR:IT'S BASIL TIME. The heat may be waning, the summer nearly over, but basil continues to surge forward, the best examples sporting waxy, sturdy leaves, with a mere touch of the finger enough to release a waft of summer heaven. Time to capture it in a jar.
Pesto has become as common as ketchup. You can buy jars everywhere, from big-branded, supermarket-stocked examples to tiny, beautifully packaged deli-friendly specimens that may, or may not, deliver superiority. None of them compare favourably with pesto made at home. For purists, this would have to be a farmhouse on the Ligurian coast because it is only there that you get the authentic basil, oil and cheese that go into making this queen of sauces.
Contrary to what you might think, Parmesan is not the cheese traditionally used in pesto – pecorino is. Furthermore, it is pecorino fiore sardo, not romano, the former having a much more gentle, elegant flavour than its fiery romano cousin. As you can see, things are getting complicated.
Whatever about the cheese, the oil is also crucial. Ligurian oil is known for its elegance, being far less assertive than a Tuscan oil, nor as heavy as an oil from the south of Italy.
Driving north through Liguria last summer, I was treated to a version of pesto the like of which I have yet to repeat. The perfume certainly was there as the plate of trenette was placed in front of me. The sauce Ligurian, the pasta Ligurian; all I can tell you is that it was heaven. Light, buttery, elegant, so sublime that I could not resist a second go, and ordered again.
The proportions for home-made pesto are roughly 60g basil to two cloves of garlic to 30g pine nuts, a little salt and four tablespoons of Parmesan and two tablespoons of pecorino. Blitz the basil, garlic and pine nuts with a little salt in a blender, or better still, in a pestle and mortar, before adding the cheese and around 110g of olive oil. There are those who recommend substituting a little of the oil with butter, but the proportions will need some experimenting with.
In essence, you want a silky sauce, so don’t over-blitz the basil – it should taste of summer, and that is hard to achieve if you overwork it. As for the basil, this is not a time for those sweet little packets of herbs – make an event of your pesto-making, and order in bulk from your greengrocer or from a market stall. A box of basil will make enough pesto to enjoy through the winter. harnold@irishtimes.com