Last of the summer basil… in mid-autumn – time for basil pesto! I grew up with southern Italian cooking and so came to this dish from the north a bit later on. There are so many variations but I’ve tried to make it as close as I can to the original Ligurian version using basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano.
I did serve it with a southern Italian pasta though… orecchiette, from Apulia so the ‘little ears’ can ‘listen’ to the pesto (love how they cup the pesto in their shells).
Addio basilico, until next summer but buon appetito a tutti! Zoe x
(Secret tip: salt helps in crushing it all in the mortar with the pestle but I had to be careful not to oversalt. Oh, and I never cut basil leaves, only tear them, otherwise they go black.)
Zoë Boccabella 
Wow. That is THE best tip I have seen in a long time. Tearing instead of cutting basil prevents them from going black. Brilliant. Thanks, Zoë.
Thank you, my pleasure, Anne! So glad to share it with you. Happy cooking! Zoë xx