Pesto Dipping Sauce

Introduction
Never ones to blindly accept the status quo, when we set about creating a recipe for a pesto and mayonnaise dip, we were sure we could improve on the tired old "1-part pesto to 1-part mayo" combination that's all over the internet.

We started by hand making the most decadent mayonnaise we could; a Japanese-style mayo that uses egg yolks only and includes some slightly controversial ingredients like MSG, dashi powder, and glucose syrup.

The mayo by itself was fantastic, but when combined with the pesto, for some reason, we just didn't like the results.

Because we purposely make our pestos chunky, we thought blending them and passing them through a fine mesh sieve to remove all the flecks would improve things. It didn't.

In desperation, we pulled out all the stops. We dusted off our whipping siphon and charged the pesto-mayo mixture with two shots of nitrous oxide. The whipped texture was intriguing and unusual, but not really what we wanted from a dip.

Tired and deflated, we dragged out a cheap Hellmann's mayonnaise from the back of the fridge and mixed it with an equal part of unadulterated pesto. The result was better than any of our previous attempts, so that's the recipe we're sticking with here.

Pro tip
You can use low-fat mayonnaise if you really want to, but the only way companies can make that muck is by using all kinds of crappy modernist ingredients. If you want to feed some titanium dioxide, potassium sorbate, and calcium disodium to your nearest and dearest, then go for it. For us though, we'll stick with the full-fat stuff.

Ingredients

* We find red pestos make for much more visually appealing dips.

Method
Manually whisk the pesto and mayonnaise together for a rustic finish, or use a blender for a more refined, smoother dip.

Crack out your finest dipping dish and serve with water biscuits, fries, or cheese straws. This is dip night, and that means sticks of celery, batons of carrot, and strips of cucumber are strictly to be left at the door.