Basil Pesto Sauce

👨‍🍳 Method

To assemble

1. 1
   Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat 2-3 minutes, stirring, until lightly browned.

   ⚙ Dry-Pan ToastingStoveFrying pan

   💡Toast over medium heat and keep things moving: nuts, pine nuts and spices go from toasted to burnt in seconds. Transfer to a plate right away, since the hot pan keeps toasting.
2. 2
   Grind the leaves in a food processor with the nuts, garlic, salt and black pepper.

   ⚙ Grinding in a Food ProcessorFood processor

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
3. 3
   Add the Parmesan and grind.

   Food processor
4. 4
   Add the olive oil in a thin stream, while Tahini, until to a smooth sauce.

   ⚙ Fat in a Thin StreamFood processor

   💡Pesto keeps in the fridge about two weeks in a closed jar, covered with a layer of olive oil. The top layer darkens from the air, and that doesn't mean it has spoiled.

   💡The thin stream is everything: fat that goes in too fast can't bind, and the sauce breaks. For mayonnaise and hollandaise, if this happens, start with a fresh yolk and slowly add the broken sauce to it; if the sauce is too thick, thin it with a teaspoon of water.