“La dolce vita”=The Sweet Life

Pesto Class

This was our second time in Manarola and we had to come back to experience a true pesto making class! It was SO much fun and we learned so much about the process of making pesto, quality ingredients and of course indulging in it. There are a few different pesto making classes in Cinque Terre, but when we were there a few years ago we saw Nessun Dorma’s class and it looked like so much fun we knew we were going to come back! I booked our tickets straight from their app and it was way more affordable than some of the other pesto classes I found on TripAdvisor. Included was the actual class of making the pesto, lots of wine, bread, meats, cheeses, fruits, aprons and they gave us a bottle of wine to go (which is their own local wine they make). They had more drink options you could purchase. I got a blackberry iced tea and it was delicious!

So let’s go over the steps to make the best pesto you have ever had!

Step 1: First they give you each your own basil plant (which smells amazing)! You will need two plants and smaller leaves are better. You start by pulling off all of the leaves and make sure you don’t get any of the stems (stems make your pesto bitter and hard to digest).

Step 2: You will give the basil leaves a bath in a dish filled with water and ice cubes for 10 minutes. Try not to touch the leaves as much as possible to preserve them from oxidation.

Step 3: You will smash one glove of garlic in your mortar. Make sure you spread it all around your mortar, even on the rim. This helps your pesto to not oxidize. You want to smash the garlic hard and fast. You will also add in a pinch of rock salt but not too much because you will add in salty cheese later. Mix the garlic and salt all around the mortar.

Step 3: You will very gentle massage the leaves in the water to get the dirt off of them. Then take small amounts of leaves in your hands, make a first with both hands around the leaves and shake the water out and add them to the mortar. Do this until all your leaves have been rid of excess water. Only shake the leaves do not squeeze the water from them. Fill your mortar to the rim with leaves do not overfill.

Step 4: After the leaves are filled to the top of the mortar you will add in pine nuts. 1 teaspoon per basil plant used. We learned that pine nuts are best if they are moist. So if you squeeze a pine nut and they leave your fingers wet, they are a good pine nut, if they do not then they are too dry and not the best to use. It can be difficult to find good pine nuts and they are very expensive. Once you add your pine nuts, you will use your pestle to smash the basil and pine nuts together. It works better if you smash them on the side of the mortar rather than straight down. Use the upward motion of smashing the basil and pine nuts on the side very intensely for several minutes. As you do this step repeat “Dai Dai Dai” very loudly and fast, this means “come on” in Italian like you are cheering someone on.

Step 5: As your pesto starts to go up the sides, take a small spoon and scrape it back down and continue the process of smashing very quickly and intensely.

Step 6: Add several slices of Parmigiano Reggiano (24 months or more for the saltiness) and Pecorino (36 months or more for spiciness). Add 80% more Parmigiano than Pecorino (20%). Smash and mix the cheese in circular motions for several minutes. Take your small spoon and clean the slides to push it back into the middle and continue process.

Step 7: Add in extra virgin olive oil, a little bit at a time, until the cheese has absorbed it and the pesto is creamy. Stir together intensely cleaning the sides and repeat the process. Continue to mix in circular motions, taste and enjoy!

Support this small business the next time you are in Cinque Terre so they can continue to provide memories to people all over the world by sharing their love of food, wine and their culture.

We absolutely love Manarola and the Cinque Terre area! We will definitely be back and you definitely need to add it to your bucket list!

I hope you enjoy making pesto and get the chance to make it in Italy one day soon!