Pesto. She’s a green goddess that oozes and clings to freshly cooked pastas and generates images of the winding streets of Genoa where the subtle, yet pungent, topper was born. Pesto dates to the 16th Century and traditionally is made with pine nuts, garlic, sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Sardo, and Genovese basil.
But my journey into the world of pesto started a few years ago when I was first knocked off my feet by an Italian chef in Los Angeles redefining what pesto could truly be. At Factory Kitchen, helmed by Bergamo-born chef Angelo Auriana, there’s a pesto so green, and so creamy, you would swear he’s using some unknown chemical compound to create this otherworldly concoction.
I’ve spent years begging Auriana for the secrets. I’ve taken his cooking class. He’s even given me the ingredients: Garlic, pure olive oil, basil, sea salt, Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Sardo, and his secret ingredient – almonds. But still, the method, the perfection of it all eluded me.
Tired of my persistence, Auriana suggested I look up something called the World Championship of Pesto – a biennial competition where 100 competitors vie for the best pesto in the world. The competition’s rules are simple: you can only use the basic original ingredients. You can’t blanch the basil. You can’t roast the pine nuts. It’s all raw and you have 30-40 minutes to make it, using only a mortar and a pestle.
As a travel writer, I am often afforded incredible opportunities around the world, but when I called the World Championship president Roberto Panizza and asked if I could compete in this year’s contest, I wasn’t prepared for him to say yes.
Upon the news, I immediately called Angelo, who opened his secret vault in small ways to help me out. As I grew my own Genovese basil at home, sourced the aged Parmigiano and Pecorino from Sardinia, Angelo gave me some clues. First, it’s about doing more with less. Less garlic than you’d ever imagine, but less of everything because the first secret to pesto is that you can always add more, but you can never take an ingredient away. The next secret is about the order. You can’t just throw everything into a pot and hope it comes together. You have to start a certain way, layer everything accordingly, and finesse your pesto into the creamy sensation you want it to be.
With the competition looming in September 2020, amidst the backdrop of a global pandemic and whether the contest will take place at all, I’ve been practicing. Pounding my basil into cracked salt and crushed pine nuts. Layering each stage with bits of extra virgin olive oil to help keep my basil brightly green, and I’ve been dusting the mortar with spurts of microplaned Parmigiano and Pecorino to emulsify in just the right way. Am I ready to compete against the best in the world? Can 100 pesto’s taste that different with all the same ingredients? I can’t answer these questions, but I can tell you that my pesto hits on levels I never thought imaginable. Its taste profile is layered with sharpness, smoothed with oil, and textured with bits of basil and garlic with a smell that permeates the entire house.
Enjoy this recipe, it’s a labor of love, with a little bit of cheating that will leave you wanting more.
Pesto Genovese by Paul Feinstein
Ingredients:
2-3 cups of tightly packed Genovese basil
¼ cup Pine nuts
½ tsp sea salt
½ cup of Parmigiano Reggiano aged 24 months
½ cup of Pecorino Sardo or Fiore Sardo
½ clove of garlic
EVOO – amounts vary
Mortar and pestle for mixing or you can use a blender/food processor
Method:
Blanch and shock your basil.
Boil water in a small pot and fill a large bowl with ice water.
Add basil to a fine mesh strainer and dip into boiling water for 30 seconds.
Remove strainer and dip into ice-cold water for 30 seconds.
Remove basil and pat dry with paper towels – do not squeeze dry.
Add a pinch of salt, half the pine nuts, and all the garlic to the mortar or blender.
Pound or blend the mixture into a paste.
Add half the basil and pound or blend until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
Add a teaspoon of EVOO and continue to mix and pound or blend.
Add half the Parmigiano and half the Pecorino and continue to pound and mix or blend.
Add another teaspoon of EVOO and continue mixing or blending.
Taste the mixture.
If anything is off, you can now add more basil or salt or cheese or pine nuts to refine the flavor.
Add more EVOO if you want it creamier as well.
Mix and add to your liking and continue tasting along the way.