Pesto alla Genovese

Pesto is a real simple dish. Perfect for a quick, light, and tasty meal.

1 cup fresh basil leaves, washed.
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon pine nuts
salt
1/4 cup shredded pecorino romano
1/4 cup shredded parmigiano reggiano
2 tablespoons olive oil

Place the basil in a food processor (if you don't have a food processor, a blender will do, or you can even cut it by hand with a half-moon knife). In a saucepan, saute the garlic and pine nuts in the olive oil for about 1 minute. Combine the basil, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil in the food processor and process. Add the pecorino romano and the parmigiano reggiano and salt to taste and continue to process. The finished product should be a finely chopped paste.

Pesto is great with several different kinds of pasta, such as angel hair, or as preferred in Liguria, with trofiette. It is also great with gnocchi, as a garnish on panini or even on pizza.

When eating with pasta, drain the pasta and then simply stir in the pesto. If it seems a little dry, add a little more olive oil.

Buon Appetito.