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[–] 22 points 1 day ago (10 children)

Pesto pasta with "bowties" is my 4yos favorite food. Fresh is great if I can, but jarred is fine-- just it keeps selling out.

Wanna know my secret ingredient? I add Japanese mirin, boiled down, which adds a unique sweetness. It was a happy accident, as I like to add an alcohol or acid when cooking meat (in this case, Italian sausage), and used it to deglaze the pan and use said pan to mix pasta and sauce together. No idea why it works well with basil and pine nuts, though.

(Also always remember to use pasta water on the sauce too, just a bit to add the starch.)

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  • [–] 13 points 1 day ago (7 children)

    Your four year old has fantastic taste! Or maybe I have the taste of a four year old. Maybe we're both fantastic. Who's to say?

    I enjoy making my pesto thicc, and then I serve it with lots and lots of fresh, juicy tomatoes. Used to grow this massive basil. I'd grab a few leaves and quickly whip up some pesto with that. So good.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (4 children)

    Holy shit now that's a basil leaf. My leaves are weak

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  • [–] 4 points 16 hours ago (3 children)

    Ah, it depends on the type of basil. This is a variety called mammoth, or lettuce leaf because of how large the leaves are. It's not the same as genovese.

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  • [–] 2 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

    Ahh neat! Okay, you made me feel a little less self conscious about my basil, lol thank you

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  • [–] 7 points 1 day ago

    I think it's the oil! I did learn that babies benefit from a higher percentage of fats, especially healthier oils like olive oil. It's just funny you wouldn't think of it as a kid food, haha

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    Just a heads up: when cooking, not all alcohol evaporates. A lot of it stays. I don't remember the percentage but there are articles online.

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  • [–] 3 points 16 hours ago

    Good point. Iirc, it's about 10% after a good reduction. My cooking mirin is 8% by volume, and you wouldn't want to use much or risk overpowering the sauce, so it's a pretty miniscule amount.

    None the less, people who avoid it for religious reasons or medical reasons should keep it in mind.

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