If you’re looking to make REAL Italian pesto, get your knife ready: Genovese pesto is generally made (at least, in Italy) by very finely chopping all of the ingredients by hand. Which is delicious, wonderful, perfect, great… and very time consuming.

Want a quicker version? This classic pesto recipe tastes almost as good as the hand-chopped version, but in a fraction of the time. It’s creamy, rich, garlicky, fresh, and delicious: in other words, it’s everything you want from a pesto sauce. It tastes best when served right away, but you can also keep it in the fridge for a couple of days if needed. Pour a bit of olive oil over the surface of the stored pesto to keep it fresh.

This recipe comes from Marcella Hazan, the author of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (a must-have cookbook if you want to get the basics of Italian cuisine down-pat). It makes enough to dress about 1 1/2 lbs. pasta (uncooked weight).

Ingredients:
2 well-packed C. fresh basil leaves
3 tbsp. pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 C. good quality extra virgin olive oil
1/2 C. freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp. freshly grated romano cheese
3 tablespoons butter, softened
Salt, to taste

Instructions: In the bowl of your food processor, combine the basil, the pine nuts, the minced garlic cloves, and the olive oil.. Process until creamy and basil is well chopped.

Pour your pesto into a medium bowl. With a wooden spoon, stir in the parmesan and romano cheeses. Stir in the butter. Add salt to taste.

Devour on pasta, sandwiches, wraps, or with a spoon.

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