Linguine al Pesto alla Genovese – alla Fabio

Preparation time

10 min or none

Cooking time

10 min

Dietary preference

Vegetarian

Difficulty

Easy

Region

Liguria

Servings

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In this recipe

Pesto literally means pounding (pestare) in Italian. It is actually a technique for making dishes with a kind of cream base. For example in southern Italy, they use the same technique to make a dried tomato pesto. Today we are going to make a Pesto alla Genovese the traditional way with some modifications here and there from chef Fabio. This is the pesto that is best known and mede with a base of basil and a little cheese.

If you have less time or don’t want to make it yourself, you can also use the Bertolli Pesto alla Genovese. Alternatively, you can use the Bertolli vegan pesto alla genovese. In that case, skip steps 1 to 5 below.

Aglio – marinated garlic

Pesto alla Genovese Vegan

Pesto alla Genovese

Preparation

We start with the basil. Remove the leaves from the stem, as the stems are too grainy and coarse so we want to keep those out otherwise you will taste it in the final pesto. Put 50g basil leaves and a pinch of coarse salt in the mortar.
Then we start the technique; turning and applying pressure. Until the basil is broken up and it has become a kind of paste.
Now add some more basil leaves, 3 small cubes of pecorino cheese, 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and a small handful of pine nuts and start ‘turning’ again. Continue until it is a nice paste.
Optional: add a few leaves of parsley. This will give you a nice bright shade of green. Since it is so little, this will not affect the flavour. Tip: you can also use a food processor to grind everything finely if you don’t have a mortar. Just make sure not to grind too long. Heat affects the flavour of the ingredients.
Once you have a nice paste, add a dash of Bertolli extra virgin olive oil and half a clove of sliced garlic to allow it to become nice and creamy.
Then you’re done, just taste briefly if you have used enough salt at the beginning. If you like, you can also add 3/4 drops of lemon juice for a fresh flavour and colour retention. If you need more pesto, you can use more of the ingredients.
Put a pan of water on the heat for the pasta. Add a handful of coarse salt to the water. Cook the dried pasta (approx 80g per person) in plenty of salted water for about 10 minutes.
Always keep stirring the pan of pasta, especially in the first stage as otherwise it will stick and be difficult to loosen.
When ready, remove the pasta from the pan with water, save some cooking liquid and put it in a frying pan. Add the pesto (keep a little left for presentation) and stir it into the pasta. Buon apetito!

Tip: add a dash of pasta water to prevent the pasta from becoming dry. This will also help the pesto mix better with the pasta.

Serving tip: use a large spoon to turn the pasta pesto in nicely with a large fork. Top with the last remaining pesto with some basil leaves, Parmesan cheese, black pepper and it’s ready!