April 10, 2024

How to Make Fresh Basil Pesto

Petitti Family Recipe

Fresh Basil Pesto

Fresh, homegrown herbs are the best for summer cooking! If you’re growing basil and looking to put it good use, try preparing a batch of basil pesto. Andria Mileti (Petitti), Angelo’s daughter, shares her recipe for Basil Pesto Penne Pasta and the story behind it below.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Penne Pasta
  • 1 cup Basil Leaves
  • 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1/3 cup Pine Nuts (Shelled Sunflower Seeds, if allergic to nuts)
  • 3 Garlic Cloves
  • 2 Tbsp. Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
  • 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
  • 1/2 lemon, squeezed

*Pecorino Romano is very unique to Andria’s pesto! The first time she ever made pesto, Pecorino Romano is what she happened to have in the fridge at the time (which she regularly uses for pasta), so that’s what she used. It brings a different flavor than Parmigiano Reggiano.

Directions

  1. Blend basil, pine nuts (sunflower seeds, if allergic to nuts), garlic, cheese, salt, and olive oil in a food processor.
  2. Add the juice from half a lemon, which keeps the basil from browning. Blend and refrigerate.
  3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente.
  4. Drain the pasta and put it in a large bowl. Add half the pesto and mix until coated.
  5. Top the pasta with grated Pecorino Romano, if desired. Enjoy!
Print Recipe

mix up flavors to match your menu

recipe variations

Andria often modifies her Italian basil pesto recipe to align with the flavors of other meals she is preparing. She encourages gardeners to tap into their own creativity and find their flavor when making pesto, emphasizing that pesto is very forgiving.

Making Mexican? Substitute some of the basil for Cilantro. Having lamb? Try 40% Basil, 60% Mint, and increase the lemon and garlic. For other Mediterranean dishes, try Parsley as a complement to the Basil. Have an allergy to nuts? Use sunflower seeds in place of the pine nuts. Allergy to cow’s milk? That’s the beauty of using Pecorino Romano – it’s an ancient, salty, Italian cheese made from sheep’s milk, and some people find it easier to digest than other cheeses.

Andria's pro tip

Use less oil, if not making to immediately dress pasta. This “dry pesto” can be enjoyed as a paste or a spread, much like you would mayonnaise. Incorporate it into a charcuterie board, use it on salmon, steak, and burgers. You can even use it to make a Caprese sandwich – sliced tomato, fresh mozzarella, crusty bread, and a swipe of dry pesto in place of fresh basil leaves. Delizioso!

the story

behind the recipe

Andria learned to cook from a very young age, and she credits her mother, Maria Petitti, for that. By the age of 10, Andria could make a basic tomato sauce, using taste, texture, and smell to get it just right.

While Andria grew up cooking, it wasn’t until she was living as an adult in Phoenix, Arizona that she developed the interest, talent, and skill for making homemade pesto. It was 2007, and Andria had just moved for her husband Sal’s job. The climate was very different from Northeast Ohio, and just about everything Andria tried to grow in her garden died due to the extreme heat. Winters were warm enough to grow Petunias (wow!), but the only plants she could keep alive in summers were Succulents and Cacti – until she tried everyone’s favorite, heat- and sun-loving herb, Basil!

With a large, raised bed close to the house, Andria decided to grow a single crop, filling it completely with only basil plants, and quickly found success. Before long, the plants were 3 feet tall, and she wondered what to do with all of them!

Referencing a pasta recipe in a cookbook that utilized Pesto as the featured sauce, Andria got to work on making her first-ever batch of pesto – and what a batch it was – 1 gallon, as a matter of fact, due to all the basil on hand! Andria found herself giving some of the pesto away to friends in the area, and a new tradition was born. But how did she go from a standard recipe in a cookbook to making it her own?

Andria used that first basil harvest, that first pesto recipe, and that first gifting to friends as a springboard. She continued growing & harvesting basil, and preparing high-volume batches of pesto. Using her childhood training, relying on her senses rather than measurements, Andria made adjustments and experimented to find her flavor and develop her recipe. She continued giving it away, and word got around. People loved her pesto, not knowing how to make it themselves, and it became a way Andria showed love through food.

tradition continues

Back here in Northeast Ohio since 2012, Andria continues using her interest, talent, and skill for making homemade pesto to teach her children valuable lessons and share their love of cooking throughout the community. She grows her “pesto bed” alongside the patio outside of her kitchen, and her father, Angelo Petitti, will sometimes drop off additional basil to support her efforts.

made with love

Andria finds basil pesto made from scratch with homegrown plants to be an example of authentically comfort food that’s relatively simple to make and also very flavorful. Every bite is like a hug. That’s how she likes to cook!

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