Rustic Pesto

Photo: Emily Heston

Ingredients

1 large bunch of fresh basil

10 sprigs of Italian parsley

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup walnut pieces or ⅓ cup pine nuts

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Preparation

Wash and dry your herbs -- plucking the leaves and processing them through a salad spinner works well, you can do all of one (basil is the most traditional) or mix any combination of basil, parsley, cilantro....make sure they are very dry before proceeding.

Absent a salad spinner, rinse them in a colander and roll them in paper towels to dry.

Toss them on a cutting board and start chopping.

To chop: use some version of a chef's knife

Hold the handle with one hand, guide the blade with the other and use a gentle, rolling motion to cut the leaves; cut in one direction, and then the other (think north to south, west to east , or reverse).

Next, the nuts, walnuts or pine nuts are traditional, but feel free to experiment. Once again, north to south, west to east, be sure to scoop to the center peripheral bits that were left out during the previous round (they will be larger).

How finely you chop the herbs and nuts is a personal preference, depending upon your future plans.

Cut the garlic (in Italian, aglio) in to chunks, then sprinkle the sea salt over the garlic and continue chopping to desired size.

Mix all of the ingredients together, preferably in a glass bowl with a lid that fits airtight, and drizzle in your favorite olive oil. Sprinkle in the cheese and continue stirring and adding olive oil to make it a thick paste, or loose and spreading sauce, depending upon the ultimate destination of this creation. Use immediately or store in an airtight container to use in the following week.

Viva Pestare!