(upbeat music)
- Hey, I'm Ben,
one of the chefs at Sorted Food
and today I'm gonna show you two ways to make pesto,
a fairly classic version,
and then a version that takes the same kind of concept
and rules to apply it to a cheaper version
that you can do at home
even if you don't have anything other
than a knife and a chopping board.
(upbeat music)
So we know the classic pesto,
essentially an Italian pounded sauce,
vibrant green and full of basil.
It's just five ingredients.
One of those ingredients we'll start with is pine nuts.
What I'm gonna do is toast these pine nuts in a dry pan
just to give them a wonderful extra note of nuttiness.
Just a few minutes tossing occasionally.
Once they're toasted,
you have to let them cool down.
In the meantime, other ingredients, garlic,
a very small clove or half a big clove.
You don't want too much raw garlic
because it can be quite fiery,
especially if you're gonna make a batch of pesto
that will last a long time in the fridge.
It will get even more fiery as you keep it in the fridge.
Next ingredient to look at is the cheese.
So a salty hard Italian cheese.
This is Parmesan.
I'm just gonna chop it up a bit smaller to give it a chance.
Keep an eye on your nuts.
You're looking for that gold.
Don't you snigger.
You're looking for that golden color
and you begin to smell it.
It smells almost like popcorn.
Now when it comes to quantities,
there is a recipe I'm sure.
For me, I like to go by eye and by hand,
and by that I mean there are five ingredients
and you want about a handful of toasted pine nuts,
a handful of chopped or grated Parmesan,
a handful of fresh basil,
much more difficult to measure a handful of oil,
but literally I mean like if you were to hold it in a hand
it's about that much,
and just a little pinky little bit of garlic,
not a hand for that one, just pinky.
And with that in mind, it doesn't matter how big
or small your hands are, should still work.
So the handful of toasted pine nuts cooled
into the food processor,
along with a handful of Parmesan and your pinky of garlic.
Now I'm using a food processor
because it's quicker and it's easier and we've got one.
Traditionally, it would be pestle and mortar.
But if you wait until the second recipe
I'll show you in a bit, you don't need need either.
Pine nuts, Parmesan, pulse.
At this point you're just pulsing it to a crumb.
You don't need it to turn into a paste or anything.
Just gets the nuts and the cheese nice and small,
ready for the basil.
At this point, a generous handful of fresh basil.
For me, I like to take the stalks off
but throw them in the next tomato sauce you're making
or something like that because they have incredible flavor.
Just not quite right for this.
It's the leaves you want.
Blitz it up again
and once the basil and cheese, nut mixture is combined.
You're gonna slowly dribble in the oil.
This is olive oil
but I've deliberately gone for half olive oil
and half extra-virgin olive oil.
Personally, I think if you just use extra-virgin
it's quite strong and it can overpower some of the fragrance
and the nuttiness of the pesto, but it's up to you.
And I'll give you another oil option later.
So that is the consistency that we're looking for.
It's basically emulsified the three different fats,
the fats from the nuts, the fats from the cheese,
and the fats from the oil.
And they all come together with the herb and the garlic,
and you end up with this.
Now we've not yet seasoned it,
but Parmesan is quite salty,
so wait until now to have a taste
and then adjust salt and pepper to your preference.
I'm adding a little bit of salt
and some freshly cracked black pepper.
Not everyone likes pepper, 'cause sometimes the basil
can be quite peppery, but up to you.
And that will keep in the fridge covered
for at least a week,
and you can use it for countless things.
It is great with grilled chicken.
It is great with grilled fish.
It's great to toss through salads and roasted vegetables.
I'm gonna show you a really quick crostini.
Light lunch or beautiful aperitivo,
some char-grilled ciabatta, this is the olive one.
Top with pesto,
sun-dried tomatoes,
and some torn mozzarella.
(upbeat music)
Damn simple, super delicious light lunch, aperitivo,
or put that on top of some beautiful warm lentils,
dinner sorted.
Oh, I've not said sorted like that for a while.
(upbeat music)
Now you understand my handy tip, recipe number two.
Now the thing is pine nuts and Parmesan,
relatively expensive, so this next version
uses more affordable ingredients in the UK.
But once you get the idea,
you can use whatever flavors you want from wherever you are.
Same rules as before.
Instead of a handful of pine nuts, a handful of walnuts.
I'm still gonna toast them off.
Walnuts, Cobnuts super seasonal
in the autumn and winter in the UK.
But equally they could be pecan nuts.
They could be macadamia.
They can be whatever you want them to be
that's affordable and tasty
or that you have in your store cupboard.
Little pinky of garlic, that hasn't changed.
Cheese, use your favorite cheese.
Use the one you've got in the fridge
or go and get one specially for it,
but it should be a firm cheese.
So like a Parmesan, not soft like a Camembert or a Brie
or a goat's cheese.
You want something that'll either crumble or chop.
This is a Cheshire cheese, not as firm as a Parmesan,
but still possible to kind of slice and crumble.
And again, a handful.
Whilst we wait for the nuts to toast off and cool,
move on to the next one, the green stuff.
Instead of fresh basil,
use whatever fresh green thing you like.
This is watercress, British watercress is wonderful.
It's peppery, it's leafy.
Just as before I'm gonna take off the stalks.
You could also use rocket.
You could also use kale.
If you do you might want to blanch it briefly,
or you could just use loads and loads of parsley, or dill,
or mint, whatever herb you like.
Just like before we give it a bit of a headstart.
This time not a headstart for the food processor,
but a head start for my chopping board
because that's how we're gonna do this one, by hand.
Forgive me for repetition,
but it helps me remember things.
Look a handful of nuts,
a handful of green leaves,
a handful of cheese and a little pinky of garlic.
The oil in this instance comes at the end,
because we're gonna do it on the board.
So rather than a food processor,
rather than a pestle and mortar, just chop it all through
with a board and a knife and you'll have the basis
of your pesto.
And here we come to the definition of pesto.
Pesto comes from pesta, which literally means to pound.
So, yes, the first one we blitzed
and this one we're chopping, but it's the same principle.
And this means that anyone can do it on a chopping board
with a knife, you have a version of that you can do.
And if you don't even want to do
the green herby leafy option,
you could even sub that out
for something like roasted red peppers.
Right now, we've got a version on the Meal Packs app
that uses a red pepper pesto, same method,
and you use it a couple of times throughout the week.
And you can go and check that out for free for a month
if you haven't already.
Essentially keep going until you've got
a really really fine crumb and then transfer it to a bowl
where you're gonna add your hand full of oil.
In this instance,
I'm using rapeseed oil rather than olive oil,
but again, use one that you like, one that you have,
and one that's got a little bit of flavor
but isn't too overpowering.
It was a handful.
Add the oil, stir it up,
and there you have it.
Slightly coarser by hand, but just as delicious.
And that's the kind of consistency you're looking for.
Season to taste.
I'm gonna tell you that little pinky of raw garlic
goes a long way, nice warmth.
That's so good.
It's so different to the pesto you know
and yet it's the same concept, the same rule,
and you can use it in pretty much the same way.
It just gives you a nice twist.
And this one I'm just gonna toss through
some pan fried pumpkin gnocchi.
Little splash of water turns it into a gorgeous sauce.
Plate it up, more fresh watercress.
(upbeat music)
And there we go, two versions of the same pesto concept.
Just remember the handy rule
and I can't wait to see what you guys come up with.
And if you want to put your new pesto skills to the test,
then don't forget check out our Meal Packs app,
basically an effortless way
to absolutely nail midweek cooking.
Smart, savvy recipes that taste delicious.
They get the wow and they save you money
on your weekly shop.
Right now you can try it for a whole month for free.
I'll be nice.
We've plugged the app, should we plug a hole, I'm hungry.
Take it. - [Mike] Here we go.
Let's try this pumpkin gnocchi.
That is spectacular.
- [Ben] It's so simple.
- [Mike] That is spectacular.
- [Ben] On a cold wet evening there's nothing you want more
than a bowl of that.
- [Mike] Yeah to remind you of a place
that's a lot sunnier.
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That does not taste any cheaper than the classic version.
It's as delicious. - [Ben] Mm-hmm.