Marcella Hazan's mortar and pestle pesto pasta
Italian cuisine · Ethan Chlebowski · ♥ 13K likes · 435.4K views · 14 min video
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Read about pasta in the BrightCulinary Book
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Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 10 g per liter salt
- bronze dye cut pasta
Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt it at about 10 g per liter, and cook the bronze-cut pasta exactly al dente, since it is not finished in sauce over heat.
Bronze die cut pasta
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt
- 20 g pine nuts
In a mortar bash the peeled garlic with a tiny pinch of salt to a rough paste; add the pine nuts and grind to a paste.
- 1½ cup basil leaves
- salt
Add the basil with another pinch of salt and grind it against the side of the mortar with a rotary movement of the pestle into a paste.
- 30 g grated Parmesan Reggiano
- 10 g Pecorino Romano cheese
Add the Parmesan and Pecorino and grind evenly into the mixture.
- 75 g olive oil
- 28 g butter
With a spoon, beat in the olive oil in a very thin stream; then distribute the butter evenly through it.
- pasta water
Reserve about half a cup of pasta water and transfer the pasta to a large bowl; spoon the pesto over, add a couple spoonfuls of the starchy water and mix until a cohesive, glossy sauce clings to the pasta. Never cook the pesto.
Emulsifying with pasta water