Or, the meal my mom would make every year for my birthday, slightly updated. I am nothing if not consistent, and without fail I would request this exact meal for my birthday, every year, until I moved out of my parents house: Angel hair pasta with pesto, and Angel Food cake with chocolate glaze. Otherwise known as, bread, 2 ways. My pesto obsession still reigns, though I have expanded my tastes to include all manner of cheese/nut/greens combinations.

When it comes to a classic basil pesto, I have tried many, even Samin Nosrat’s hand-ground by mortal & pestle version from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and my mom’s is still my favorite. It may just be nostalgia, but I have not found a worthy substitute. I don’t know if you’ll like this one as much as I do, but I do hope you’ll try it. The flavor is mellow and balanced, pairing well with anything else you want to serve alongside. I made 3 small tweaks to the original recipe. The first is toasting the pine nuts, because toasted nuts are just better. The second is to use a fresh block of good parmesan, and grate it myself at home, rather than buying the tub in the store. (I use a combination of the rasp grater and small holes on my box grater, for a mix of textures). Fresh parm is a bit pricey, but I think the flavor is worth it. Also, there are only a handful of ingredients in this whole thing, so I don’t mind splurging a little on this one. Finally, I do use the food processor, but only briefly, so as not to overly bruise the basil leaves, keeping a nice green color (One thing I did take from Samin’s notes)! Now, I typically toss this with a long-strand noodle, and will picture it this way below, but there are many other uses. Try it as a quick sauce for fish, a marinade for chicken, mixed with a touch of yogurt for a salad dressing, or as a dip for some good crusty bread. Go wild, and do it now, while the basil is plentiful.

If using to sauce pasta, once you make the pesto, spoon about half of it into the bottom of a large bowl. Add the freshly cooked pasta, along with 1/3 cup of pasta cooking water, and toss vigorously to coat the noodles. When you no longer see liquid in the bottom of the bowl, add the rest of the pesto, and toss well until evenly distributed.

Mom’s Pesto

Recipe by Too Many SpoonsCourse: DinnerCuisine: Sauce

Servings

4

servings

Cost

15

$

Total time

15

minutes

This recipe makes just enough to lightly sauce a 1lb box of pasta.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup pine nuts

• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 2 cloves garlic

• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

• 1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

• Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until they turn shiny and golden brown, and start to smell buttery, about 5 or 6 minutes. Watch carefully towards the end, as they can burn easily. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
• In a food processor, grind the cooled pine nuts and parmesan cheese for about 30 seconds, until you get fine, moist crumbs.
• Add the salt, garlic, and basil to the food processor, and run on low for about 15 seconds, until you get a thick paste.
• Add 1/4 cup olive oil, pulse quickly just a few times to incorporate, then transfer the mixture to a bowl.
• Add the remaining oil, and stir with a spoon. Served tossed with pasta, or as desired.