Some dishes are indeed better than the sum of their parts, but pesto is another story.
Why pulverize such divine ingredients and drown them in raw garlic and oil? The end product is less, rather than more, at least to my palate (call it a perverse palate if you must). That’s why I make my pasta with deconstructed, un-pesto.
Fresh basil is poetry if sliced into a leafy chiffonade. Maybe that’s my problem. I worship fresh basil, and can’t bear for its flavor to be minimized. Fresh basil is a gift from heaven, and it strikes me as sinful to process it into molecules and sublimate the flavor to raw garlic. Garlic lovers, come after me with torches and pitchforks. I understand. You love garlic. I love basil. Let’s agree to differ. I’m not anti-garlic, but I think it adds more to a dish when roasted. Enough said.
About pine nuts. The pleasant pop of biting into a whole pine nut is unrivaled. Processing pine nuts destroys the texture. Respect the pine nut, people. Leave them whole.
Parmesan cheese is way too good to saturate with olive oil. Soggy cheese, not so appealing.
On a more positive note, some amazing alternative pestos are emerging these days. Grilled lamb chops with mint pesto are amazing. I’m growing mint around my roses this year just so I can make this often (well, and to support my unfortunate but delicicious mojito habit). I thank Argentina regularly for grilled steak with chimichurri, even if I do deviate from tradition with cilantro and lime juice. It’s a diverse world out there, filled with diverse pestos. It’s a good reason to be happy today…
