Pesto | Basics with Babish

As a card holding Italian, I'll give you the butter trick, that looks fantastic, but pesto on long pastas like angel hair or spaghoot isn't my favorite. Ideally use something that captures the pesto like a penne or rotini to make sure there's minimal pesto left on the plate.

For those curious: there IS a difference between the mortar and pestle vs the food processor. The food processor does not rupture cell walls well because it is a blade slice through rather than being ground into and ripped apart. Stronger flavors with the pestle and mortar

Andy has learned that his calling is not only to make entertaining informative cooking videos on youtube, but also to consistently troll Italians, and I'm here for that.

People think that pesto with basil, pine nuts, and parmesan is the only "real" "traditional" pesto but that's completely wrong. Pesto is a broad class of sauces and many variations exist throughout Italy, the common thread being the pounding in a mortar. Basil pesto is just the version from Genoa that got the most popular. You could argue that a pesto made with kale, macademia nuts, and mexican cheese that you pounded in a mortar is more "traditional" than one made with basil, pine nuts, and parmesan in a food processor (though I'm not sure why you would; do whatever you want, obviously).

What if for early or late 4th of July video, you make Major Glory's All American Buffet Breakfast Bonanza from The Justice Friends episode, "Valhallen's Room"

I once made a pesto with Watercress and Pecans awhile back! Its lovely 🥰

Best pesto I've ever had was made using wild garlic we'd pulled out of the ground that day in this beautiful secluded creek in cornwall -- it's such a simple thing, but fresh, high-quality, seasonal ingredients made such a huge difference. I've never had a pesto both so fragrant and so delicious in any restaurant - and indeed, precisely the same recipe produced just... regular pesto if using regular garlic.

I absolutely agree that you should add butter to your pasta, whether it’s red, pesto or just bare pasta and Parmesan cheese. It helps with binding so you don’t end up with soup instead of a rich creamy sauce!

Last year I grew radishes in my garden and used the tops to make a pesto. I roasted the radishes and tossed them into the pesto with pasta and it was phenomenal. I highly recommend playing with greens you wouldn't normally use.

Weird Suggestion for an episode: There is a programming language called 'Chef'. The Idea is that a program reads like a recipe, but they usually wouldn't work if you tried them for real. Except for one that actually makes a chocolate cake and simultaneously is a 'Hello World' program (a very basic program that just prints "Hello World"). Just search for 'Baking a Hello World cake'. Please try this in an episode of Binging Programming with Babish :D

We're Peruvian and my Mom used to always make Pesto Pasta with Spinach and Mexican Cheese. We also called it Green Spaghetti or Tallarínes Verdes!! I could get the recipe from her and you should make it Babish!! 🥰

One I made was garlic scape pesto, the garlic scapes (the stem and bud of a hardneck garlic plant) taking the part of both the garlic and most of the vegetation portion. Just make sure to chop them up a bit before putting in the food processor, just enough they don't wrap around the axle . Traditional? Heck no. Delicious? Heck yes!

i am italian and my grandma makes the best fresh pesto you have ever tasted. her secret is adding a tiny bit of hazelnut in with the pine nuts. it’s only a little, but the result is fantastic

I recently did a pesto with Thai Basil and toasted peanuts. Worked really nicely with chicken.

When I was living with my grandma (in-law), she had purslane taking over her backyard, so I actually made a ton of pesto with that and cashews since she always kept a Costco-size container of it around. It was delicious! Purslane has a lemony sort of flavor. Really was unlike any pesto I had ever had before. I guess I’ll have to try the snap peas recipe, too, because I love peas. Great video!

My family's favorite thing to use pesto for is "pesto chips." Aka pizza dough + pesto + mozzarella, baked, cut into 1-inch-ish squares, and served as the appetizer of pizza night.

Andrew you singlehandedly got me through the pandemic and you continue to bring the FIRE. I never would have thought to use picadillos or pistachios. You truly are an innovator.

Make all the buttered foods that were seen/mentioned in The Looney Tunes Show episode, "Bobcats on Three": Butter Pie, Cheddar Cheese Dumplings with Creamy Gravy, etc.

If you use Thai basil in the recipe you can freeze it. Due to the intensity of the Thai basil, the flavor that is lost during freezing will make it taste like regular basil when thawed for use later. Thanks for all of the new variations of pesto!

I don't know if this is sacrilege, but gnocchi is my go-to pasta for pesto. Little doughy balls of herby, cheesy deliciousness. (And I also add butter at the end.)