Pesto’s French cousin tastes in Provence after summer

The classic pesto alla genovese has produced many offspring, including Sicily Tomato-infused Trapani Pestoand numerous modern new interpretations (Arguula pestoSomeone?). Perhaps the one who resembles him the most and is a taste is France’s Pistou, which comes from Provence and is usually stirred into A Comforting summer soup. However, Pistou has important differences to his Ligurian cousin, and you can be happy to find out that these differences make Pistou even easier and less expensive.

The herbal aroma and the Allium Pesto punch always have four most important ingredients – Garlic, basil, olive oil and salt, but do not usually contain the cheese and pine seeds, which are contained in typical pesto. This not only makes it a simpler and more affordable sauce, but also one that works for vegans, those with nut allergies and those who are cheese.

In the end, a little more is stirred in Pistou in many recipes. Sometimes it is a head of the soup with which it is often served, but often it is a bit of fresh, finely diced tomato, which gives a sweet, fruity note that gently and rounds off the sauce. My recipe below demands tomatoes.

I love every excuse to break my mortar and pestle, and this sauce is the perfect reason for this. The squeezing and grinding effect of the stark opens the cell structure of the garlic and the basil, whereby more taste and aroma are released than the cipher leaves of a mixer or a kitchen machine, and the result is silk-wicked of very finely chopped bits and more of ultra-silky shredding. However, the speed and convenience of a mixer or a kitchen machine cannot be denied, and good work does an excellent job to produce a smooth and aromatic sauce. This recipe offers instructions for both methods.

One last note: If you want, you can briefly put the basil leaves in a freezer before making the sauce, just long enough to rigid them. The ice crystals that form in the leaves break apart the cells and soften them before they shred or mix. At the same time, the cold temperatures temporarily deactivate the brown enzymes that can lead to the basil leaves shortly after shredding or processing an unpleasant, loyal color.

How to use the pistou are the possibilities endless: in the Classic soup; on toast; on eggs; on sandwiches. It is particularly great on pasta or spoon over roasted or fried potatoes (or really on almost every strength). Say a different way: Pistou would be just as welcome wherever you could enjoy pesto.

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