We challenged chefs of three different skill levels - amateur Billy, home cook Joe, and professional chef Fatima Khawaja - to make us their preferred pesto.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 (egg cracking)
00:02 - I'm Billy and I'm a level one chef.
00:07 - I'm Joe and I'm a level two chef.
00:09 - I'm Fatima and I've been a professional chef
00:11 for over 10 years.
00:12 - Today I'm making penne pasta
00:16 with spinach and basil pesto.
00:18 - I am making my sun-dried tomato pesto
00:20 with gnocchi and chicken.
00:22 - I'm making pesto with fresh pasta.
00:24 All the classic ingredients, you have to keep it simple.
00:28 (upbeat music)
00:31 - Pesto, it's earthy, it's fresh, it's not hot
00:36 and you get to eat it as soon as it's done.
00:38 - Pesto isn't pesto without garlic.
00:40 I like to roast the garlic first
00:42 to get rid of some of the bitterness
00:44 and make the pesto creamier.
00:46 - The first thing I'm gonna do is take the baby spinach
00:48 and chop it up so that the food processor
00:50 has an easier time getting through them
00:51 and making them all little
00:53 and ready to get smooth and saucy.
00:54 - When you have such a beautiful item like basil,
00:57 why crowd the party with spinach?
00:58 - Spinach is a good base flavor.
01:00 It's got like that green taste to it.
01:02 There's a more scientific explanation than green,
01:04 but it's what I'm gonna call it.
01:05 I'm doing a one-to-one ratio of spinach and basil.
01:08 - I'm cutting the top off so the olive oil
01:10 can permeate into the garlic,
01:12 just enough to get the juices flowing in there.
01:15 I'm gonna pop this in the oven for 30 minutes
01:16 at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
01:18 - I like making my pesto in a pestle mortar.
01:22 This is pretty heavy and probably weighs
01:25 like my two-year-old daughter.
01:27 - I'm gonna put all of these chopped up greens
01:28 into like a little personal blender,
01:30 which I call a zhuzh.
01:32 Zhuzh, zhuzh, zhuzh.
01:33 - My garlic is out of the oven.
01:35 This is exactly what I was going for,
01:37 just roasty, olive-oily, garlicky goodness.
01:40 - Now that the greens are in a place
01:42 where I could work with them,
01:43 I'm going to put them into the zhuzh
01:45 and start pulsing it so that they get chopped even finer.
01:48 Would you look at that greenage fly?
01:50 - Scoop this liquid gold into the food processor.
01:54 - I use lemon to add brightness to the pesto.
01:57 Harder than I thought.
01:58 I'd need to get back in the gym.
02:00 - You can't have pesto without basil.
02:01 - So I'm gonna add my basil.
02:03 - I'm gonna start with my pine nuts.
02:05 These are toasted.
02:06 - Pine nuts, if you're not like making
02:09 pinoli cookies or pesto sauce,
02:11 those bad boys are sitting in the cupboard
02:13 for months and months at a time.
02:14 Almonds, cheap, versatile, nutty.
02:16 A certain arginine.
02:18 - Beautiful sun-dried tomato.
02:20 - Just a clove of garlic.
02:22 - Pinch of salt.
02:23 - A generous amount.
02:24 I'm gonna start pounding out these three ingredients.
02:27 The salt acts as an abrasive.
02:30 The oils in the garlic and in the pine nuts
02:34 are starting to come out, so I'm getting this nice paste.
02:36 - These elements are gonna be as small as they're gonna get,
02:39 and it might be time to introduce the oil
02:42 and turn it into a sauce.
02:44 Okay, let's see if I can get this on correctly.
02:47 I did it.
02:49 - I'm gonna start adding the basil.
02:51 - Pulse this.
02:52 - Don't be afraid of really going in on this pesto.
02:57 - Mortar and pestle is definitely worth it,
02:59 you know, if you know how to use one,
03:01 which sometimes I don't.
03:03 - It's gonna be worth it at the end.
03:04 - There really is no substitute for good Parmigiano cheese.
03:08 - You see this?
03:09 That's pesto.
03:10 Oh!
03:11 - The smell is starting to fill up the room.
03:13 That's perfect.
03:14 - If you're doing it on the orange juice scale,
03:15 this would be like some pulp, but I'm happy with it.
03:17 - You can see that the pesto is pretty wet,
03:20 and I haven't added any water to it or anything like that,
03:23 which is why I'm not gonna add that much oil.
03:25 The oil is just for a little bit of flavor,
03:28 and it's gonna prevent it from oxidizing and turning brown.
03:31 - You know, you don't want it too brown or too green.
03:33 That's how you know the ratio
03:35 of sun-dried tomato to basil is correct.
03:38 - Salt to taste.
03:39 I like a lot of salt.
03:41 Time for pepper.
03:42 I'm gonna use some pre-minced garlic.
03:44 All the hard work done for you already.
03:45 - I'm gonna start adding the cheese.
03:47 - Parmesan, a lot of earthy, nutty, salty.
03:51 A touch of pecorino.
03:53 Bit of a sharper note.
03:55 I like adding the olive oil right at the end
03:58 because it gives me more control.
04:00 It prevents me from making a very oily pesto.
04:03 I'm tired.
04:04 But at the end, when you make the dish, it's so worth it.
04:07 And you're like, oh, this is why I put all that effort in.
04:09 A traditional pesto, it has to be green.
04:12 I'm not gonna add lemon juice
04:14 because it's gonna oxidize and turn my pesto.
04:16 Lemon zest adds a little bit more aroma.
04:20 I wanna add more cheese.
04:22 Don't judge me.
04:23 Ooh, I really like that with the lemon.
04:26 - Delicious.
04:27 - It's like I surprised myself.
04:29 - Ladies and gentlemen, we have a pesto.
04:31 Now I need something to put this on.
04:33 I've used a lot less water than you traditionally would.
04:35 Put the pasta in now while the water comes to a boil.
04:38 I saw somebody do this on the internet once
04:40 and it seemed like a really smart idea,
04:42 so I'm gonna copy it.
04:43 Penne is a great pasta for pesto.
04:45 It's got a lot of surface area to pick up sauce.
04:48 - I always associate penne with like baked ziti.
04:51 - Ooh, look at that.
04:52 You could fill that with pesto.
04:54 In you go.
04:56 - So I love a pesto with other noodle
04:59 just because the pesto coats it really nicely.
05:01 The first thing I do is dump all the 00 flour
05:05 out onto my work surface.
05:06 I'm making a volcano,
05:08 and so I'm making space right now for the lava,
05:12 which is gonna be the eggs that I'm gonna add.
05:14 I'm gonna add the salt to the eggs.
05:15 I break the yolks
05:16 and I'm gonna scramble the eggs a little bit.
05:18 Basically just bringing the dough together,
05:20 working quickly, get rid of my fork,
05:22 and start using my hands to bring the dough together.
05:25 I feel like my dough is ready and it's looking good.
05:27 I'm gonna wrap this and let it rest.
05:29 - Pasta's in the water.
05:31 Got a nice, generous pinch of salt.
05:32 Always, always salt your pasta water.
05:35 - You want to add a ton of salt
05:37 so that it tastes like the Atlantic Ocean.
05:39 - My dough has been resting for 45 minutes.
05:41 I'm gonna start rolling out my pasta
05:44 with this handy-dandy electric roller,
05:46 because I'm not about to roll it by hand,
05:50 and run it a couple of times.
05:51 I want it to be a nice, delicate pasta
05:54 because the sauce is delicate.
05:55 I like the magic of this.
05:57 You can roll it up and make a little bundle
05:59 that's gonna go right into the boiling water
06:01 once we've rolled everything out.
06:03 - My water's finally boiling.
06:04 I'm gonna let it go for like another minute or two
06:06 and then test the pasta and see how my method works.
06:08 - Cut open my bag of imported potato gnocchi.
06:11 The pillowy texture of the gnocchi
06:13 really adds to the bright flavors of the pesto.
06:16 A gnocchi cooks quickly.
06:18 - Just a couple of minutes.
06:19 - It's almost like a hot bath.
06:20 - Fresh pasta should just rise to the top
06:23 and look tender and juicy.
06:24 I think that's good.
06:27 - Perfect.
06:28 So my gnocchi is finished,
06:29 and I'm going to save some pasta water.
06:31 - Pasta is done.
06:32 The texture is tender,
06:34 but still has a little bit of bite to it.
06:36 - Al dente.
06:37 - I'm gonna add some cherry tomatoes
06:39 as a little brightener, a little bit of acid.
06:41 And also it just breaks up the monotony of colors.
06:43 You're gonna have a little green, a little red,
06:45 a little white.
06:46 Hey!
06:47 A bonbons, all right.
06:48 - I am going to salt and pepper my chicken breast.
06:51 I don't need to put any other seasoning
06:53 because the pesto is going to season it in my finished dish.
06:57 - I recently discovered Calabrian chili oils,
06:59 and I'm obsessed.
07:00 I like to add it to pastas
07:02 to add a floral component and a heat component.
07:05 - I'm just looking to bloom the Calabrian chilies
07:07 in oil to flavor the oil.
07:09 - I'm going to lay them away from me
07:11 so that I don't splash hot oil into my face
07:14 and ruin my good looks.
07:15 - Slice right down the middle.
07:16 Whoopie.
07:17 Now do it until you're tired of doing it.
07:19 - This is done.
07:20 The oil is looking nice and bright and red.
07:23 - And that is what I was going for.
07:25 I'm going to rest it
07:26 so that the juices absorb back into the chicken
07:29 so that when I slice it open over my pasta,
07:32 all the juices don't just run out.
07:34 - I'm going to transfer all of this pasta to this pan.
07:37 - My gnocchi is hot and it's strained,
07:39 and I'm putting it on a low heat.
07:41 - Time to incorporate halved tomatoes,
07:43 boiled penne, pesto.
07:46 What do you think of that?
07:47 - I'm going to add two heaping tablespoons of pesto.
07:50 Give it a nice toss.
07:52 - Mix in the pesto with the pasta,
07:54 and I'm just going to add a little bit
07:55 of the pasta water as well. - Pasta water.
07:57 Beautiful.
07:58 Getting a nice glossy pasta.
08:00 - I got to move fast on this
08:01 because you don't want it to stick to the bottom of the pan.
08:04 - Pasta should be served from pan to plate
08:06 and eaten immediately.
08:08 - Someone once told me that the key to doing this properly
08:11 is doing it slowly.
08:13 Garnish tomatoes.
08:14 Thanks for coming, ladies.
08:15 - My sliced chicken.
08:16 - My chili oil.
08:18 - This is the remnants of my pesto pulverization
08:21 from earlier.
08:22 Drizzle a decadent bit across the top.
08:25 - A little bit of grated Parmesan on top.
08:27 - Can you add too much Parmesan?
08:29 - You can never have too much cheese.
08:30 - And then pick a couple of my favorite basil leaves here.
08:34 And I think three is a magic number.
08:36 - And that is my penne pasta with pesto sauce.
08:39 - And that is my homemade sun-dried tomato pesto
08:43 with chicken.
08:44 - And I'm ready to dig in.
08:46 - I am in no way disappointed with the way this turned out.
08:54 Not for nothing, but it looks better
08:55 than anybody else's too.
08:57 - It looks gorgeous.
08:59 It's kind of undeniable.
09:00 - Yeah, I'm good at this.
09:06 I can make pesto.
09:06 - That's like, that's why I'm a pro.
09:08 - It's a little bit healthy.
09:09 It's a little bit sinful.
09:11 It's the perfect dish.
09:12 - Silky, luscious, got that little heat.
09:15 It does not get any better than this.
09:16 - You can taste the spinach.
09:17 You can taste the basil.
09:18 They're not fighting each other.
09:20 They're playing nice.
09:21 And it finishes off with that nice green flavor
09:24 I was talking about earlier.
09:25 - I'm gonna eat this whole thing
09:26 if you guys don't tell me to stop.
09:29 - Pesto is an aromatic sauce or dip
09:31 and it's always delicious.
09:33 Let's see how each of our three chefs made theirs.
09:36 Billy blended traditional basil with spinach,
09:42 a deep green tender leaf
09:43 that adds a lot of water to his pesto.
09:46 It's a good source of vitamin A,
09:47 so also makes it nutrient dense
09:50 and enhances the already green basil.
09:52 Billy included almonds, a harder nut,
09:54 lower in fat compared to pine nuts,
09:56 with a slightly less creamy effect.
09:58 Joseph added layers of flavor by roasting whole garlic,
10:02 imparting a sweet caramel note.
10:04 He blended everything together
10:06 with olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes.
10:08 Tomato flavor compounds are concentrated
10:10 because water is reduced during the drying process.
10:13 They're also intensely red
10:15 because of the concentration of two carotenoid pigments,
10:18 lutein and lycopene.
10:20 Fatima made traditional pesto
10:22 with the addition of raw garlic,
10:23 basil and authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano,
10:26 a hard cheese ripened or affinaged
10:29 between one and three years.
10:31 Physical and chemical changes happen during affinage.
10:35 Billy used a handheld blender,
10:40 which required a lot of oil
10:42 because he shredded his greens first,
10:45 so it collected on the bottom of the bowl.
10:47 Joseph used a food processor
10:49 for blending all of his ingredients together.
10:51 Fatima used a mortar and pestle,
10:53 an ancient tool that crushes and grinds food
10:56 into pastes or powders.
10:57 It's a slower manual process
11:00 with minimal heat of friction added,
11:02 as you might find
11:03 with a high-velocity electric food processor.
11:06 Fatima was able to see the progression
11:08 of how her sauce came together
11:10 and used less oil than our level one and two chefs
11:13 in order to get a smooth, rich and creamy consistency.
11:17 Billy cooked commercial dried penne,
11:22 which is made with water and semolina,
11:25 a hard flour derived from durum wheat.
11:28 Joseph used commercially made potato gnocchi,
11:30 which are like small dumplings
11:32 made with potatoes, flour, and sometimes eggs.
11:35 Fatima made her own fresh pasta with double zero flour.
11:39 In Italy, flour is classified
11:40 according to particle size of the flour
11:43 or how finely ground it is.
11:45 The double zero flour has high elasticity
11:47 for kneading, rolling, and shaping her pasta.
11:50 She reserves some of the starchy cooking water,
11:53 a very smart technique,
11:54 because she can add it to loosen her pasta
11:56 and pesto as needed.
11:58 Many chefs say pasta water should be as salty as the ocean.
12:02 You certainly need salt in your pasta water,
12:05 but can you add too much?
12:07 Yes, and you can ruin your pasta and pesto this way.
12:11 Pesto is a gorgeous, green, intensely flavorful sauce.
12:14 Next time you're making pasta for two or 22,
12:17 we hope you'll try some pesto
12:19 and take tips from our three outstanding chefs.
12:22 (bell dings)