Basil Pesto
To make basil pesto that is at all economical, you should either grow your own basil, or have a friend who does. I mourn the loss of my basil plants during the winter. There is no real substitute for fresh. I only use dried in recipes to make myself feel better, it doesn’t really taste that awesome.
Last year I tried freezing pesto. My family loved the result so much that I instantly regretted making such a small amount. My recipe yielded about seven or eight 1/2 cup portions that, after I started rationing, we ran through in maybe three months. Made a mental note to make about four times that amount this year. It’s great in a ton of applications.
Makes 5–6 1/2 cup portions
Basil Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed pretty tightly ( 5 ounces)
- 1 1/3 cups pine nuts (can substitute other oily nuts such as: walnuts, pumpkin seed, almonds)
- 3 medium-large cloves of garlic
- 1 1/4 cups grated italian cheese (parmesan is traditional, I use a blend of parmesan and Romano)
- 1 cup good quality extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- additional olive oil
Instructions
- Place the basil leaves in a food processor and pulse until half-way chopped. Add the Pine nuts and garlic. Continue pulsing. Add the cheese, salt, pepper ‚and sugar. Through the pouring spout, with the processor on, Drizzle the olive oil into the basil mixture. When oil has been added, stop processing. You don’t want it done to a fine paste. A little texture is best.
- I store pesto in 1/2 cup portions in zip-close freezer bags. Put in the pesto, press out the extra air, flattening the pesto in the bag, and drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top. Seal tightly, and freeze flat.
- Should keep for a year if you can make it last that long!
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This inspires me. I wanna try it and see if it works with us.
Yum! I love pesto. I have so many basil plants scattering my yard, and pesto has to be one of my favorite uses. I like your recipe. I’m going to give it a try next time.
So true! Good thing I have a nice big pot of fresh basil waiting to be made into pesto sauce :) Please link up this and any of your favorite summer blog posts to my “Happy Post” Help spread the cheer :) http://su.pr/1bZ8fp
This looks yummy but do you know if it’s ok to leave out the nuts? My son has a tree nut allergy. Thanks.
Tanya– Yep! There are so many interpretations of pesto that it really can be whatever you want. While pine nuts are integral to classic pesto, it is possible to substitute practically every element of the recipe and still have a pesto. Could you possibly switch the pine nuts for pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds? You could also just omit the nuts altogether.
Thanks for letting me know that if I continually cut back my Basil plants they would produce more. I have been able to freeze lots of pesto this year! I love it!
The original recipe has only with pine nuts, basil leaves, extra veergin olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino cheese and little garlic. And that’s all!
Traditional way to make “pesto alla genovese” is using a mortar in marble but if you don’t have it, you can use a food processor but be sure to use it on low speed to avoid overheating the basil leaves.
The most classic ligurian recipe with pesto are “Trenette al pesto”:
http://www.academiabarilla.com/recipes/l…
But in Liguria, there’s also another traditional dish with pesto sauce: Genoa-style pesto lasagna
http://www.academiabarilla.com/italian-r…
Ciao
Mario Grazia
Hey, LOOK!!! Mario Grazia left you a comment!!! tee hee!
I tried this (without the cheese) and it came out wonderfully. Thanks for the recipe!
Naive question: What can you do with basil pesto besides putting it in pasta or on bread? I love it but I’m not sure what else I could have with it. I don’t eat refined carbs all that often anymore, unfortunately.
It can also be delicious as a basting for vegetables, such as grilled artichokes, or roasted tomatoes. You could also use it on spaghetti squash, or julienne your zucchini like a pasta and use it as a sauce. Let us know if any of these work for you!
What’s the best type of basil to use? Ther are so many…sweet, Genovasee, etc..
The most common for pesto are: Italian classico, Italian large leaf, and Genovese. There are dozens of basils, and some of them might possibly make an awesome pesto, so I encourage experimentation!! You can also swap out the pine nuts for other kinds of nuts.