Pesto. One of the typical sauces of our country, the second most consumed and loved especially on pasta. You don't always have time to prepare it at home and so you use a ready-made product. But how to orient yourself in choosing a ready-made Genoese pesto of good quality
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Pesto. One of the typical sauces of our country, the second most consumed and loved especially on pasta. You don't always have time to prepare it at home and in this way, when necessary, a packaged product is used that can be long-life or fresh to keep in the fridge. But how do you go about choosing a good quality ready-made Genoese pesto?
At the supermarket and grocery stores we find different types of ready-made pesto: with or without garlic, in vegetable variant for those who are allergic to milk or who still prefer to buy products without animal proteins, more delicate and creamy, etc.
The best pesto is undoubtedly the one we produce ourselves at home starting from fresh basil (even better if grown by us or organic) but when this aromatic herb is no longer in season or if we do not want or time to prepare it and we have to buy it ready what do we need to pay attention to?
Read also: PESTO ALLA GENOVESE: THE ORIGINAL RECIPE AND 10 VARIATIONS
As always, it is good not to let yourself be captured by the images and slogans on the packaging but read carefully the ingredients and the nutritional table to be able to shop more consciously. You will thus discover, for example, that there are pests in which pine nuts are almost entirely replaced by cashews, that the oil used in greater quantities is that of sunflower and not the extra virgin olive oil (even if on the package there is written to attract the 'attention "with extra virgin olive oil") and so on.
Keeping in mind that pesto should consist of a few simple ingredients: basil, oil, parmesan, pecorino, pine nuts and salt. Now let's compare the best known and most used ready-made pesto, the ones that you probably have at home or have ever bought.
Index
COMPARING LABELS
Genoese pesto - Barilla
ingredients: Genoese pesto with 3% extra virgin olive oil. Sunflower oil 43%, basil 30%, cashews, Grana Padano Dop (egg lysozyme) 4,5%, whey; extra virgin olive oil 3%, salt, pecorino romano DOP 1,2%, sugar, flavorings (milk) acidity regulator: lactic acid, garlic.
Pesto without garlic - Saclà
ingredients: Sunflower oil, basil 36%, Grana Padano Dop 5% (milk, eggs), cashews (nuts), glucose, Pecorino Romano Dop 2,5% (sheep's milk), salt, pine nuts 2%, potatoes , extra virgin olive oil, aromas, acidity regulator: lactic acid
Genoese pesto - Rana
ingredients: extra virgin olive oil 33%, basil 17,5%, sunflower oil, whey powder, grated cheese 7,5%, wheat flour, butter, lactose, salt, pine nuts 1,5%, natural flavors (contain milk and gluten), 1% garlic, skimmed milk powder, acidifier: lactic acid, antioxidant: ascorbic acid.
Pesto with tofu - Biffi
ingredients: Olive oil, basil 22%, cashew nuts, sunflower oil, tofu 3% (water, soybeans), salt, pine nuts 1%, potato flakes, pepper, acidity regulator: lactic acid (vegetable) , antioxidant: ascorbic acid, preservative: potassium sorbate. It may contain traces of other nuts.
Genoese pesto - Buitoni
ingredients: basil 31,5%, sunflower oil, whey powder, extra virgin olive oil 10%, pecorino cheese, Grana Padano cheese 5%, dextrose, pine nuts 1,5%, salt, garlic 0,5%, flavorings natural. It may contain eggs.
Delicate and creamy pesto - Tigullio
ingredients: Sunflower oil (45%), basil (31%), cashews, milk proteins, Grana Padano cheese (3%) (with egg proteins), salt, pecorino cheese (2%), sugar, extra oil virgin olive oil (1%), aromas, acidity regulator: lactic acid; garlic, vegetable fiber.
Pesto – Knorr
ingredients: Basil 46%, sunflower oil, Grana Padano DOP 5% (contains egg lysozyme), cashews, milk proteins, salt, Pecorino Romano DOP 2%, extra virgin olive oil 2%, glucose syrup, sugar , potato flakes, flavorings (contain milk and lactose), 0,5% garlic, 0,5% pine nuts, acidity regulator: lactic acid.
Genoese pesto - De cecco
ingredients: Basil 37%, extra virgin olive oil 36%, cashew flour 11%, Parmesan cheese PDO 5%, salt, pine nuts 3%, potato flakes, sugar, acidity regulator: lactic acid, antioxidant: ascorbic acid.
Organic Genoese pesto - Alce nero
ingredients: Basil * (35,7%), sunflower oil *, water, extra virgin olive oil * (10,6%), cashews *, Parmesan cheese * (milk *, salt, rennet *) (2,6 %), potato starch *, cane sugar *, salt, pecorino cheese * (milk *, salt, rennet *), pine nuts *, garlic *, acidity regulator: lactic acid. *Biological
Vegan eco Pesto - Nutrition
ingredients: * basil 45%, * extra virgin olive oil, * sunflower oil, * pine nuts 13,6%, lemon juice, merino salt, * potato flakes, salt, * garlic 0.9%. *Biological
Read also: 12 WAYS TO USE PESTO ALLA GENOVESE BEYOND PASTA
There are also gods artisanal fish, made with genuine and local ingredients according to the ancient Ligurian recipe and using the marble mortar. We have told you, for example, about Roberto Panizza's pesto.
COMPARATIVE TABLE
Now let's compare specifically in the different ready-made pesto: the basil percentage, the type of oil, cheeses used, if they are present pine nuts or cashews and finally the sale.
This comparison table will make it easier for you:
Read also: 10 ALTERNATIVE RECIPES TO TRADITIONAL PESTO
THE OPINION OF THE NUTRITIONIST
We asked Paola Assunta Buccarella, doctor and nutritionist, to give us some useful information to be able to choose, a ready-made pesto of higher quality.
Here's what he told us:
“The only original pesto is the Genoese one. But much needs to be done apay attention to ingredientswhich are used in the products on the market on the shelves of all supermarkets that are, first of all, those of the original recipe of the real Genoese and quality pesto. Again the reading the labels is essential to identify quality products and discard everything else ".
The real "Pesto Genovese" is obtained from the processing of the following ingredients:
- PDO Genoese basil: not less than 25%
- National extra virgin olive oil
- Grated "Parmigiano Reggiano" or "Grana Padano" DOP cheese
- Pecorino DOP cheese
- Garlic
- Pine nuts
- Walnuts (optional)
- Sea salt
“Among the products packaged in jars we distinguish between industrial pesto, prepared with ingredients of dubious quality and the addition of additives that we find in supermarkets, e the artisanal pesto Dop, produced with ingredients with a protected designation of origin, indicated on the label, easily available in organic food shops, in some delicatessens, first-fruit shops and food excellences and even online. The exact wording of a quality and truly healthy pesto is 'pesto genovese Dop'. A pesto called 'alla genovese' may not contain the ingredients of the original recipe, but substitutes: instead of pine nuts, cashews or walnuts, seed and non-olive oil, additives such as sugar, thickeners, preservatives, artificial flavors, ascorbic acid , lactic acid (so always read the labels) ".
As Dr. Buccarella confirms:
"The best pesto is always homemade at the moment and is prepared by crushing the basil leaves in a mortar with a wooden pestle, after having minced the garlic. Then add the sea salt in grains (which helps to preserve the green color), grated cheese, pine nuts and extra virgin olive oil. The mixture must be homogeneous and dense. Homemade pesto or jarred pesto however, it should be consumed within a few days, always having the foresight to cover the remaining sauce of the container with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil ".
But what are they the benefits that offers a good homemade pesto?
“The basis of the pesto is the basil, once considered a sacred plant and used in rituals and medicine: its Latin name Ocimum basilicum means 'royal perfume'. Included among the remedies of the medieval pharmacopoeia, it was used for intestinal and digestive disorders, menstrual pains and to promote milk supply: its essential oil treated insect bites. In the kitchen, basil became the ingredient of pesto in the early nineteenth century even if, in fact, already in the Middle Ages in Liguria a similar sauce, based on garlic, oil, salt and vinegar, was used as a flavoring and preservative for meat. : its intense aroma eliminated unpleasant odors from food which tended to rot over time. Basil and garlic they both have a purifying action on the liver, stomach and intestines, strengthen the heart and circulation e lower cholesterol. Garlic is also an antidepressant and strengthens the immune system. Pine nuts and olive oil are an excellent source of good fats and precious minerals for healthy skin and joints ”.
When basil is in season, therefore, we find some time to self-produce a good homemade pesto!
