We knew that the day would come when we had to face a tough challenge.

For a long while we thought it was an impossible dream: To create an ambient Basil Pesto that really did look and taste like the freshly made stuff found in Liguria. ‘You must be joking! It stands to reason THAT can’t be done’. Well it can and we’ve done it.

No compromises.
No prisoners taken.
No excuses.

No playing safe by tipping our culinary hat to what passes for Basil Pesto in the UK, whether on the ambient or chilled shelves. We wanted to achieve as near to ‘the real thing’ as possible.

There we were, in Rapallo, along the Liguria coast savouring this mythical plate of ‘Lasagne al Pesto’ and feeling both ecstatic and guilty at the same time. How could we look ourselves in the face if we didn’t try harder to bring you the real thing as well?

So here it is.

It’s a bit like discovering that the colours of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel once cleaned, are far stronger than all the previous experts on Michelangelo had imagined.

We await your reaction with bated breath!

TASTING NOTES

The colour is light green. Why? The more you blend basil leaf with other ingredients such as cheese and pine nuts, the lighter the shade of green. The reason that so many UK multiple fresh Basil pesto sauces are darker in colour is because you can still see the light white particles of cheese in the sauce. They have not been properly fused. You wouldn’t find a Ligurian recipe with bits of cheese floating in the sauce!

The ingredients are blended together into a uniform ‘paste before oil is added.’ Why? Doing so allows you to then dilute the blend of basil, pine nuts and cheese with oil to taste, without risking a separation of oil from the other ingredients. There is nothing worse than finding the bottom of your plate of pasta awash with oil. It’s an experience all too familiar to UK consumers.

Homemade Basil Pesto in Liguria often contains a little ricotta cheese. It might not be what the guides to ‘Pesto alla Genovese’ recommend but we prefer to go by results. The fresh pesto we taste when on a trip to Liguria that have a touch of Ricotta are to die for. That’s good enough to convince us!.

The pesto coats the pasta perfectly, achieving maximum impact on your palette with little if any oil separating and remaining on the bottom of the plate. You will still feel little fragments of Basil leaf and nut between your teeth while experiencing the full impact of the natural pungent sweet aroma of Basil itself.