tastes green

I made my first pesto sauce a week ago, and it seemed to be missing a something at the time. I decided I'd try again sooner rather than later (which, I assure you, has nothing to do with wanting to use my Cuisinart mini-prep chopper/grinder, a Christmas gift), so tonight: pesto.

It came out a little differently tonight than I'd anticipated. Last time, the consistency was more uniform, smoother. I do realize that this is a ridiculously simple recipe, but I'm new to adjusting recipes to my taste, instead of following the recipe to the letter, and frankly, I haven't gotten the hang of using a food processor quite yet, even a mini one. My kitchen went from being gizmo-free to... less gizmo-free. I'm still trying to get the hang of my low-end immersion blender. I'm learning, is my point. When I made this sauce the last time, I think I grated the cheese first. I tried to run it through the grinder tonight, but instead of getting fine enough to blend, the parmesan was just pulverized into tiny pebbles. I used more cheese this time around, thinking that the grinder would do as a grater, which I think accounts for the better taste. It was a little less bitter this week, a little bit fuller. And it still had that nice, sharp pesto flavor that I love; it really did taste green.



Recipe courtesy the Bon Appetit cookbook, though it does seem a pretty standard recipe:
2 c. fresh basil, packed
1 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 c. pignole (pine nuts)
1/2 c. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste