Gaita also gave us a bonus recipe which became very valuable to all of us. As many normally mix their pesto through a blender or even heat their pesto sauce, Gaita taught us otherwise.  

Handmade Pesto Genovese

1 ½ cups tightly packed basil leaves, rinsed, and dried well

1 – 2 cloves garlic

3 1/2 tbsps pine nuts

¼ cup olive oil, or to taste

2 -3 tbsps freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Rock Salt, to taste

Procedure

1.       Although the proportions may be outlined here, making Pesto Genovese is more an exercise in knowing what is right for your taste.

2.       Start by wiping some basil leaves with a damp cloth and drying them. In a stone mortar and pestle, pound the basil till it becomes a rough paste.

3.       Add the garlic cloves and continue pounding till garlic blends with basil.

4.       Add the pine nuts and continue to pound till everything is evenly mixed.

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5.       Add the olive oil little by little, till oil gets completely absorbed by the basil mixture in the  mortar & pestle.

6.       Add the  freshly grated Parmigiano reggiano, salt, and pepper to taste.

7.       Continue to blend in the mortar & pestle till it blends evenly, season further to taste, then  transfer to sterilized bottles, and chill.

8.       You may add butter ON TOP  just to thicken and seal  inthe mixture. You may add extra olive oil, just to make sure none of the basil is exposed and left to dry and darken.

9.       Remember not to cook the pesto  over a flame, just top your pasta dishes or grilled seafood or light meats with it.

Previous Entry:  Healthy Cooking with Gaita  September 10, 2008

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Heart2Heart really admires Gaita Fores!  She has so many things to share with us.  She tells us all about her experiences, her food trips in Italy, her secret techniques, her cooking gadgets, her sources and we can just listen the whole day. 

Gaita also announced that she will soon be opening:

Another Cibo in the new Youth Zone that Powerplant Mall in Rockwell is developing.  Kids can now make their own pizzas and it will be a place for the parents and children to hang out in.  

A Champagne bar called Luso in Greenbelt 5.

And a Gastroenoteca di M in Pasong Tamo

all before Christmas!!!!

WOW!!!! She is so busy expanding her business all  because of the demand of her loyal followers! Watch out for all of these! 

Again, Mothers Club was fortunate to have her as guest chef.  It is becoming an annual event and also to celebrate Cibo’s anniversary.  All the recipes are easy to make and the beauty of it all is that they are all HEALTHY so do try them!

One thing with Gaita is she always makes sure that when she does something, she does it the REAL way.  She told us that she actually went with her staff to Italy to learn the Italian way of making pizza.  She made sure she did it correctly before she put Pizza in her menu.  When it comes to Ingredients, she tries as much as possible to patronize our LOCAL products.   

Thanks again of course to our lovely host, Mimie and to our beautiful emcee, Tisha

The Mothers Club team- Mimie, Dina, Vaya and Ola 

 Use Healthy broth instead of OIL – you can freeze it  for storage and just bring it out when it is time to cook

Gaita taught us how to make healthy stock – VEGETABLE STOCK – healthier than using chicken which still has some fat 

2 carrots, 2 whole onions and  a few stalks of celery  

Use onion leeks instead of white onions if you want a sweeter taste in your dish 

 Gaita said that you can use part canned tomatoes in your dishes and mix it with fresh tomatoes.  Only use the Italian ones because she knows for sure that they can their vegetables at its FRESHEST stage  

Gaita said that she patterned this dish from a restaurant under the Spanish Steps in Rome.  I like it very very much.  The smoked tanguinge has a bacon taste so it is a good alternative to bacon which is very unhealthy 🙂  

 website:  Ristorante “34”

Don’t make olive oil smoke or it gets carcinogenic 

When boiling pasta, do not use oil or olive oil- the reason your pasta sticks is because it is overcooked 

Always put salt while cooking your pasta to give it taste but not too much

This recipe is fro Trattoria Garga in Florence.  Gaita said that the owner and chef of the restaurant is a very entertaining chef-he shouts orders, bangs sauce pans and he even sings in his restaurant! 

website:  Trattoria Garga 

This recipe I also really like. Very simple, yummy and very healthy! Gaita said that this recipe was made by a mother who wanted to make baby food for her child.

 In Italian Cooking, onions are always cooked before the garlic 

Save your pasta broth- you can use that to reheat your leftover pasta noodles  

COOKING TIPS FROM GAITA 

Previous entry:  Mother’s Club – Gaita Fores  August 23, 2007 

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