Hey folks, it's been a while since we've had a post here, so I figured I'd freshen things up with an extremely easy recipe.
Pesto is seriously one of the easiest things to do. All you really need, gear-wise, is a knife with a curved blade, a cheese grater, a cutting board, a bowl and a spoon. I use this: http://www.alaskafurexchange.com/images/ulus/7BU_7BE.jpg
Or you can use something with a curved blade that will let you rock it back and forth, like this: http://www.jlhufford.com/images/shun-classic-rocking-knife.jpg
Ingredients wise, since it's a raw sauce and has very few ingredients, it's important to get the best quality ingredients you can possibly lay your hands on. Whole Foods has really awesome Parmesan cheese. It's salty, pungent, buttery and nutty. It's way, way more flavorful than literally every other Parmesan or "Parmesan" I've ever had. If it's too expensive for you, you can get it from Trader Joe's, but don't get that crap they sell at Ralph's or Albertson's. That waxy, pale, bland crap will make your pesto lack-luster.
You'll also need wild arugula, olive oil (NO "lite" olive oil please, get something that tastes good!), pepper (fresh cracked please), fresh garlic (no little friends growing out of the top of the cloves!) and salt. Walnuts or pinenuts are optional. I almost never remember to add them. Whatevs.
Directions:
Grab a handful of arugula (you got the wild, prewashed kind from TJ's, right?), ball it up firmly and start chopping through it until it's fairly fine, like the chop that's on cilantro you'd get at the Mexican restaurant. http://www.cookthink.com/images/Article/626/658_.jpg Like the parsley on the left. It doesn't even have to be that fine, if you don't want. This is where the rocky-knife comes it. It makes it so easy just to rock back and forth over the arugula until it's at the right size.
Chop a bunch of the arugula, a handful at a time. I'll usually do two or three handfuls. Put it all in a bowl. Now, smash, peel and finely chop one or two garlic cloves. Put the garlic in the bowl, and now grate (using the FINE grade on the grater) a bunch of parmesan over the mixture. So, if I did two or three handfuls of arugula, I'd do a handful of parmesan. Give it a shot of pepper, mix it up and start to pour in the olive oil. There is no right or wrong way to do this. If you want a lose pesto, pour in more. If you want it drier, use less. Use your judgement. Now taste it. Needs salt? Add salt, or more parmesan. Too much garlic? Add a little more arugula.
See? You're done, and this probably took like ten or fifteen minutes.
