Hi friends! I know that there are soooo many pesto recipes out there, so why trust this one? Well, because it’s a family recipe that came right from my dad who specializes in only a few dishes (this being one of them), and because my family is 100% Italian. Boom. Trust me now? I promise you this is the creamiest pesto you will ever have.
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
8 bunches of basil, or 8oz
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1.5 cup pine nuts
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp pepper
16oz pasta, fettuccine or whatever makes your heart happy
1 cup grated parmesan, and some to top with at the end
1/2 cup pasta water
Instructions
1. Detach the basil leaves from the stems, wash them, and THOROUGHLY dry the leaves. I cannot stress this enough, the leaves for this pesto need to be 99% dry. I typically layer the leaves in between paper towels or a towel and let them sit to dry for a little bit.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. You know what I’m gonna say – SALT YOUR PASTA WATER.
3. In the meantime, add your basil leaves, 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, salt, pepper, parmesan. Blend on high for 1-2 minutes. This is the blender that we own and it is INCREDIBLE.
4. Add in the other 1/2 cup of your extra virgin olive oil and continue to blend for about 2-3 minutes. The pesto should be CREAMY. Continue to blend until it’s extremely creamy.
5. It should be perfect but one can never be too sure right? Do some quality control. Taste it and determine if there’s anything that’s missing for your taste buds. If it’s grainy, add more oil, if it’s bitter, add more parmesan.
6. Before draining your pasta, reserve 1/2 cup pasta water.
7. Drain your pasta, add it back into the same pan, add your pesto until all of the pasta is fully coated. Add in your pasta water and continue to stir until nice and….CREAMY.
8. Top with parmesan, or pecorino, and SERVE IMMEDIATELY! Enjoy!!!
Extra Goodies
You should have a little bit of pesto left over and that’s ok! Feel free to add the rest into your pasta (that’s a lot of pesto but we’re here for it), or we’ve even put it on omelettes or sandwiches the next day.
If you’re looking for other pasta recipes, I got you. Check out my crazy creamy carbonara recipe, or my orecchiette with sausage and broccoli recipe.
I am dying to know whether you will try this or not! What’s your favorite family recipe? Let me know in the comments!