This hack keeps your homemade pesto fresh and bright green (so it won’t turn dull)
Pesto is one of those products that simply tastes 1,000 times better when you make it yourself. It’s not that I absolutely hate supermarket pesto, but homemade, with fresh basil leaves, toasted pine nuts and really good olive oil… Nothing can beat that. Do you want pesto that not only tastes exquisite, but also looks its absolute best? Fresh and bright green in colour, that is? There’s a simple trick for that.
The colour of green pesto comes (duhhh) from the basil leaves you add. You ‘bruise’ them, together with the other ingredients, in a mortar. When you process basil (by bruising or cutting it, for example), enzymes are released that promote oxidation. That’s because those enzymes come into contact with oxygen. This process ultimately makes your pesto turn darker in colour.
Perfect pesto
Let’s be honest: pesto that is fresh and bright green in colour simply looks more appealing than dark green pesto. Right? Fortunately, there’s a trick that helps your pesto retain that perfect green colour. To do this, you need to blanch the basil leaves briefly. How do you do that? Place the leaves in boiling water for a few seconds. Then remove them and immediately put them in ice water. This inactivates the enzymes, which is exactly what’s needed to optimise that beautiful green colour.
Brief cooking
Will you notice any difference in the taste? Because you only put the basil leaves in boiling water for a very short time, hardly any flavour is lost. The longer the leaves are in contact with hot water, the more flavour they’ll probably lose. Then your pesto won’t be as tasty anymore. And, well, we really do consider flavour more important than colour. So shorter in boiling water is better. Five seconds maximum — no longer. Then you get the best of both worlds: great flavour and a great colour.
Top dishes with pesto
So, what are you going to make? A classic pasta pesto? Oven potatoes with pesto and Parmesan cheese? Or are you going for a real TikTok hit: pesto eggs? In any case, I’m going to get my incredibly heavy mortar off the shelf again. And make room in the fridge for all the jars of pesto that will be stored there. So delicious!
Also read:
- Upgrade your pesto with these 3 variations
- Vegan pesto can be delicious, especially with these tips
- This secret ingredient makes your pesto even tastier
Source: @cooksillustrated
