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Try this traditional Italian sauce with a BC twist
Although traditionally made with basil, pesto can also be made with watercress or nettles
“Pesto” comes from the Italian pestare – to pound. In Italy, pesto is made with basil, olive oil, garlic, salt and Parmesan cheese.
When made in a mortar and pestle, the basil maintains its sweet, floral flavours and does not become bitter, like it tends to do when made in a blender. Compensation for that bitterness comes from adding more than the usual amount of fresh grated Reggiano. Give the mortar and pestle a try and make your Nonna proud.
This pesto recipe follows the ratio of ingredients in a traditional recipe, but that’s where the similarity ends. The greens grow wild on BC’s Sunshine Coast and the nuts are from the Lower Mainland – and it’s all available at the Vancouver Farmers Market.
Feel free to add the cheese if you like, perhaps something from Salt Spring Island or Cowichan Valley. Because the greens are so hardy, and bitter is their thing, a blender does the trick with no gustatory harm.
Ingredients
Instructions
Makes about 1 ½ cups.