Ingredients
(5-6 people)

• 3 cups Ocimum Basilicum – otherwise known as BASIL – stalks removed
• 2 small cloves garlic (the tradition states 1 clove for every 30 leaves…)
• ½ cup Paradiso Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 6 tbps Parmigiano Reggiano
• 2tsp Pecorino (aged variety of your choice – Toscano, Romano, Sardo)
• 1 tbsp pine nuts
• Course salt
• 500g/ 1 pack Columbro linguine or other cut of choice

Preparation

1. Wash the basil leaves, dry with a clean kitchen towel.
2. Put the garlic into a food processor and chop finely. Stop the processor and add the basil. (Note to traditionalists: if you were doing this with a mortar and pestal, you would add the basil gradually, rotating the pestal so as to extract the “basil juice” in the veins of each leaf)
3. Add about ½ tsp course salt, followed by the Parmigiano and the Pecorino. Finally, drizzle in the olive oil, and add a little more salt, IF needed.
4. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Strain the pasta, conserving about ½ c of the water. Mix thoroughly with the fresh pesto, adding the water as needed to avoid the pasta sticking or the pesto being too dense. Serve immediately.

Buon appetito!

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Note: it is always a good idea to start with the basil and then add about 80% of the other ingredients to begin with and taste the pesto as you go along. You can always add more pine nuts, cheese, olive oil or salt as needed. The flavors will greatly vary depending on the flavor of the basil and your other ingredients. Note: you can store the pesto for 4-5 days, though it will oxidize on the outside – simply stirring it will revive the color. It can also be frozen and used as needed at a later time.