Make the Bread, Buy the Butter - Jennifer Reese [62]
Make it or buy it? Absolutely make it.
Hassle: Nothing to it
Cost comparison: The price for a 7-ounce container of pesto averages $6.50. If you use walnuts, your homemade pesto will cost about $1.00 less. Made with pine nuts, the price jumps to $7.50.
2 packed cups fresh basil, leaves only, washed and dried
3 garlic cloves, peeled
½ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons nuts (pine nuts or walnuts)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Kosher salt to taste
1. Place the basil in the bowl of a food processor with the garlic cloves, olive oil, and nuts. Blend until smooth and creamy.
2. Scrape down the sides of the work bowl and add the cheese. Blend to combine. Taste and adjust for salt. Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator for 1 day. Freeze for longer storage.
Makes a generous cup, enough to sauce a pound of pasta
PARMESAN: GRATED OR BY THE CHUNK?
At Whole Foods, you pay exactly the same amount whether you buy your Parmigiano-Reggiano grated in a tub or in a brick from the cheese counter. Either way, it costs a pretty penny: $21 per pound. I know that you’re supposed to always grate Parmesan by hand just before you serve it. For years, that is what I did. Then I stopped, and no one noticed. There are few kitchen jobs, including squeezing limes, that I dislike more than grating hard cheese. I would rather learn to make Parmesan than grate it—except if I made it, I would eventually have to grate it myself. I sometimes buy chunk Parmesan to shave over special dishes, like Caesar salad, but otherwise, like for adding to pesto? Pre-grated. Always.
MARINARA SAUCE
I like food with bite and this hearty sauce has plenty, unlike most bottled sauces. Many major producers such as Classico, Barilla, and Newman’s Own add sugar to their marinara and it tastes unwholesome and overly sweet. Plus, the routine sugaring of savory food is annoying.
Make it or buy it? Make it.
Hassle: Slight
Cost comparison: Homemade costs about $1.50 per cup. Classico: $1.60. Rao’s: $3.86.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
Kosher salt
1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender.
2. Add the tomatoes and their juice. Simmer for 30 minutes over medium heat. Add salt to taste. Use immediately, or cool to room temperature and store in a jar in the refrigerator for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage.
Makes about 2¾ cups
QUESADILLAS
This is my default dinner, default lunch, default snack, default breakfast. To make one, put a flour tortilla in a skillet over medium heat, top with sliced or grated cheese (Jack or cheddar), fold it into a half-moon, and let the cheese melt.
How hard could it be to make a tortilla?
FLOUR TORTILLAS
Not hard at all, as it turns out. These homemade tortillas taste elemental, more floury than what you buy. I had always liked store-bought tortillas, but now they taste suspiciously slick, like flour spiked with monoglycerides, amylase, and calcium propionate. Not bad—but not as staff-of-life satisfying.
Make it or buy it? Both. Even though they taste inferior and cost more, packaged tortillas are so convenient. I can’t give them up. When possible, make your tortillas. As necessary, buy them.
Hassle: Minimal
Cost comparison: Under $0.10 to make a medium tortilla; about $0.25 to buy one.
3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
5 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil, shortening, or lard
1. Combine the flour and salt. Add the fat, mixing until the flour forms clumps. Add ¾ cup water and mix until the ingredients come together and form a dough. Knead briefly, until smooth, springy, and tender. Divide into 12 balls, each just a little larger than a golf ball, cover with a clean, damp dish towel, and let rest on the counter for 20