Pesto Sauce

Pesto Sauce - фото рецепта

Today I want to introduce you to the classic Italian pesto sauce, which has been gaining popularity lately. I simply adore it, it has a bright and rich taste, it is practically universal, and the recipe is quick and easy. You can add it to pizza, pasta, make various flatbreads, or simply spread it on freshly baked bread and it will be divine!

Basil (including stems)
about 2 cups, loosely packed
Pine nuts
about 1/2 cup
Parmesan cheese
about 1/2 cup, grated
Olive oil
about 1/2 cup
Garlic
2 cloves
Salt
1/2 tsp
Black pepper, ground
to taste
It's important to use green basil as it has a soft taste and is perfect for pesto sauce.
To start, we need to remove the basil leaves from the main thick stem, as the stem is coarse and won't blend well. You can leave the very top part with the stem, as this part of the basil is thin, tender, and easy to work with.
Prepare the nuts, garlic, and Parmesan cheese, which needs to be grated finely.
Place all the ingredients in the blender bowl. Basil, nuts, garlic, salt, pepper, and add olive oil. Blend everything until smooth.
Transfer our sauce to a suitable glass container and store it in the refrigerator. The sauce has a fairly long shelf life due to the oil in it acting as a preservative. The sauce may lose a little color during storage, but that doesn't mean it's spoiled.
You can also freeze pesto sauce, for example, in ice cube trays. Once the sauce is frozen, carefully remove each section, place them in a bag, and store them in the freezer.
It's better to use silicone ice cube trays, as it will be easier to remove the frozen sauce from the mold.
You can add a little lemon juice to the pesto sauce, but this is an optional ingredient, adjust according to your taste.