If like me you are a lover of Genoese pesto, I would like to offer you a first course different from the classic trofie or trenette with pesto. Always keeping this exquisite basil sauce as the main ingredient, I would like to replace pasta with rice, to make a green risotto, a risotto with pesto that we will cream with a few teaspoons of spreadable cheese.
I already have my mouth watering let's get to work!
Video of the Recipe
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Identity Card of the Recipe
- 166 KCal Calories per serving
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Ingrediants
For the Genoese pesto
- About 30 basil leaves
- q.s. (About 50-60 ml) of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (about 30 g) of pine nuts
- 25 g of pecorino
- 25 g of grated Parmesan cheese
- a few grains of coarse salt
- 1 clove of garlic
To serve
- 1 handful of pine nuts
- a few basil leaves
For the rice
- 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- About 30 g of grated Parmesan cheese
- q.s. of vegetable broth
- 50 g of spreadable cheese
- 1 glass of dry white wine
- 180 g of rice
Materials Needed
- Rice casserole
- Saucepan for the broth
- Ladles of various types
- Mortar for pesto
- Frying pan for toasting pine nuts
Preparation
- Pour a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan, add the pesto and toast the rice over high heat for a few minutes.
How do you prepare Genoese pesto at home?
To prepare the pesto, pour a few grains of coarse salt and a clove of garlic into a mortar. Crush everything with the pestle until you get a cream. Add about 30 leaves of young basil, a few at a time, gradually adding a few grains of coarse salt: it must be a thick cream.Add the toasted pine nuts and work everything gently with the pestle.
Add 25 g of pecorino, 25 g of grated parmesan and as much extra virgin olive oil as necessary to obtain a consistent but not too thick sauce. The pesto is ready.- Once the rice has been toasted, slowly and little by little add the vegetable broth prepared with mixed vegetables (carrot, celery, etc.), water and a little salt.
- When the rice starts to boil, cover with the lid and keep a rather sweet flame (avoiding to lose the boil), continuing to mix and slowly hydrate the risotto: in this way, it will be possible to obtain a very creamy rice.
- Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a pan: by doing so, the aroma of the pine nuts will be released.
- A couple of minutes before the rice is cooked, add the spreadable cheese and stir gently to mix the ingredients well.
- Turn off the heat and serve the risotto decorating with a few toasted pine nuts, a little grated parmesan and a few leaves of fresh basil.
Alice's comment - PersonalCooker
A show of risotto, creamy and delicate, which releases all the scent of basil. If you prepare your pesto in time, you will see how quick and easy it will be to prepare a first course in just 15 minutes. Enjoy your meal!Nutritional values and Health Comment on the recipe
Risotto al Pesto Genovese is a fairly caloric first course as it provides good quantities of complex carbohydrates and lipids. It is not easily contextualized within a low-calorie diet while, as regards the normal-calorie diet, it can be consumed in medium portions of about 200-250g (330-415kcal).
