Basil Pesto Recipe
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Basil Pesto is such a versatile sauce. It’s fantastic tossed with any pasta, or on burgers; not to mention in a grilled chicken sandwich with focaccia bread, cheese and heirloom tomatoes (can you tell what’s for dinner?).
Mom planted loads of basil this year and I’m putting it to good use – I’m on a pesto spree; making lots and lots of basil pesto with walnuts. Pesto freezes well so if you have loads of basil right now (and it’s not too late to plant some), you should try this! And do let me know how YOU love to serve pesto.
Ingredients for Basil Pesto:
1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin is best)
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
1/8 cup lemon juice or juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
How to Make Basil Pesto:
1. Wash and dry the basil leaves (a salad spinner works best)
2. Place basil into a food processor, add cheese, nuts, garlic cloves, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Process until smooth.
This was lunch:
Basil Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves packed
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil extra virgin is best
- 1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts
- 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
- 1/8 cup lemon juice or juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
Instructions
-
Wash and dry the basil leaves.
-
Place basil into a food processor, add cheese, nuts, garlic cloves, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
-
Process until smooth.
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Looks great!
Thank you, Kamal!
Hi Natasha,
Is it okay to omit to the nuts?
The nuts actually make up a large portion of this recipe so you might consider replacing them. I have heard of people making pesto with seeds. You might research nut free pesto on Google to get more ideas.
I have a question about the leaves. I looked at your recipe and on the picture with your basil leaves, one had a hole in it. Is it ok to use ones that are not ‘perfect’. I tried to look for information online to see which ones i should discard. So, I picked through a whole bunch and only picked the healthy ones and threw out the ones with any marks on them or holes or ‘bitten’ ones. Would love to know your experience with this. Thank you for your help.
Hi Flora, as long as the basil doesn’t look wilted or spoiled, a good rinse should do the trick 🙂 Not all of the leaves have to be perfect since they are blended 🙂
Thank you for you response, however, still a little confused about what I do with brown spotted or marked ones. They so not look spoiled other than the marks… do I cut those parts out and still could use the leaves. For the bug bitten ones I was told I could use them…just wondering..because I had so many like that this year…
You can add them to the pesto and just blend everything together. I wouldn’t discard unless you have an abundance or excess.
Thank you:) will try it out with your recipe
My pleasure! Please let me know how it turns out!
I LOVE pesto!!!! It tastes so good on hamburgers, pasta and sandwiches. I wonder how well the pesto can keep up in the freezer? 🙂
I’ve never tried freezing pesto so I’m not sure. If you test it, let me know how it goes. The color might not be as vibrant after freezing.
Pesto freezes really well. I make my own or usually buy the Costco one (good quality and great value) and divide it up into sandwich bags in portions. 3-5 TBSP each bag or you decide!
Thank you for sharing!
hi, i was wondering if theres anything i can use instead of basil leaves? i cant find fresh ones anywhere 🙁
Traditionally pesto is made with basil, but you can substitute for spinach although the flavor would change quite a bit. You might search online for a spinach pesto recipes.
how long can this pesto sit in the fridge for before it goes bad?
We’ve always eaten it within a couple days, but I probably wouldn’t leave it longer than 5-7 days in the fridge. It also depends on how fresh your basil is; if it was already kind of wilting when you used it, it won’t last long.
Hello. Quick question. Which salad spinner brand do you have? And also what size – small or large?
The one photographed here is the OXO large salad spinner. The one I currently use is the Dexas salad spinner. Both are very good!
This year my mom got excited and planted a lot, in fact a little too much basil so when I show her this recipe she will be so happy that we can put that basil to good use. I’m excited to make this cause I love this stuff, even as a dip.
Let me know hot it turns out :).
This stuff is amazing! We made pasta with it and later had it with our sandwiches (instead of mayo). I made a lot a froze about half of it. You’re awesome, Natasha!
Thank you, I’m glad you like it :).
try toasting the pine nuts … it’s even more yummier!!!
ooh, I think I will 🙂 Thanks Irina!
looks very delish. thank you
That pesto looks delicious! Thanks for sharing
I agree that pesto can do so much to add flavour to just about anything. I’ve added my pesto to regular tomato sauce, to my homemade vegetable soup, with white wine when cooking mussels, in a thin layer on pizza dough before any other sauces or toppings. I’ve also made pesto with spinach when basil is not plentiful in my area. When I freeze it, I put a plop of it in a small sandwich bag, flatten the bag before I close the ziploc. I stack several flat bags like this in the freezer and take out one when I need it. Or open the bag and break off a bit of the flat pesto when I need just a bit. Thanks for the recipe, I’d better get some basil asap.
Thank you so much for sharing your ideas!
To freeze, I fill up ice trays with the pesto, let them harden, & then put the individual cubes in a ziploc bag. Works great!!
Thanks for sharing that with us Jennifer!
Looks Yummy.
Hi Deepa – thank you! I was just checking out your site. What recipe would you recommend for someone who has zero experience with Indian food?