Basic pesto, made with basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. This recipe differs from the classic preparation by the addition of parsley. You can add a little extra Parmesan to the mixture if you like.
This is it! Real, authentic pesto. I made several batches this morning with our fresh garden basil and my son was in pesto heaven! If you are making and freezing one-cup batches as I am, then cover the top of each container with a thin layer of olive oil. Basil tends to turn brown when exposed to air. When you thaw the container, the basil won't turn color. Use the best Extra Virgin Olive Oil you can afford! Thanks for the great recipe!
Read More A little heavy on the garlic and Parmesan, so I reduced the amounts of both by half. Both have very strong flavors of their own, and too much of either will detract from the intensity of flavor you want from the basil. I toasted the pine nuts in a skillet over medium heat for 5 or 6 minutes, added a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper and did not use the optional parsley--it is neither traditional nor necessary. The only reason to add this would be to help the pesto retain it's bright green color, since fresh basil has a curious tendency, unlike other herbs, to turn brown when cut.
Read MoreThis is it! Real, authentic pesto. I made several batches this morning with our fresh garden basil and my son was in pesto heaven! If you are making and freezing one-cup batches as I am, then cover the top of each container with a thin layer of olive oil. Basil tends to turn brown when exposed to air. When you thaw the container, the basil won't turn color. Use the best Extra Virgin Olive Oil you can afford! Thanks for the great recipe!
This is a good recipe. The only suggestion I have is to add some lemon juice to the pesto or store it in the refrigerator with a thin layer of olive oil on the top. Otherwise, the top of the pesto turns black.
Delicious and beautiful! If the basil is added to the blender in a couple of separate batches, it helps to avoid "air lock". I also chucked in a smidgen of salt, which perked up the flavor even more. Finally, I'm a notorious garlic lover, but even I found that two good sized cloves were enough to perfume the pesto. Four cloves could easily overwhelm it, so beware. Thanks for a great recipe!
Exquisite in its simplicity, the only thing I added was a pinch of kosher salt. A great recipe. A hint for keeping the pesto mix creamy~ save some of the cooking water from the pasta. Add it slowly to the drained pasta & pesto paste. Mix well. It will make a creamy, hot sauce that will coat the pasta smoothly. Thanks, Valerie.
A little heavy on the garlic and Parmesan, so I reduced the amounts of both by half. Both have very strong flavors of their own, and too much of either will detract from the intensity of flavor you want from the basil. I toasted the pine nuts in a skillet over medium heat for 5 or 6 minutes, added a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper and did not use the optional parsley--it is neither traditional nor necessary. The only reason to add this would be to help the pesto retain it's bright green color, since fresh basil has a curious tendency, unlike other herbs, to turn brown when cut.
I love this pesto - I've made it several times. When I make a large batch, I used a melon baller or spoon to divide the pesto into separate little mounds on a cookie sheet. I put the cookie sheet in the freezer and when the little balls are frozen, I can easily put them together in a freezer bag and only pull out as many as I need for a meal.
OMG!! I just finished preparing this recipe... and there is no way I have 2C left! I tasted it for seasoning and went back for more! I thought I hated pesto, but I had so much fresh basil ready to expire in the cold that I thought I'd make some and give it away to friends. No one's getting this stuff but me (OK, and maybe my husband). Like others, I used less garlic. Yumm!
Great Recipe -- Changes: I didn't add Parsley & Subsituted Sliced Almonds for Pine Nuts. I do like Pine Nuts in Pesto, but Almonds are a wonderful LOW $$ sub with absolutely no sacrifice to the flavor. P.S. I typically add some pepper to taste & sometimes 1/4 Jalapeno from my garden for a lovely spicy pesto. **TO FREEZE: Pour 1 Cup of Pesto Mix into a Quart Freezer Bag. Close Bag, then Smoosh around the mixture until the bag is evenly covered so it looks like you have a square 'Pesto Pancake' ;0). Then, when you need Pesto, open bag, break off a chunk and add to your cooking recipe! MUCH MUCH EASIER & Less MESSY than freezing in cube trays - Trust me!
Who doesn't love pesto? This is a very good basic recipe. I used toasted pine nuts, for extra flavor, and omitted the parsley. I also added pepper. Freshly grated parmesan is SO MUCH BETTER than the dry canned stuff. I made several batches of this, when the basil was in season, and froze several portions to use later (in pasta, on fish or chicken, on pizza, etc.) Thanks for sharing this GOOD recipe!
I've been making pesto for over 30 years, and you can freeze it in little cubes -- but I never do. I make lots each summer (5 to 10 pounds of basil) and keep it in large jars in my refrigerator. After making the pesto and pouring it into the jars, all you do is make sure there are no air bubbles in the pesto, smooth it off at the top and seal it with olive oil before closing the lid. When you scoop some out of the jar, just smooth it off again and pour more olive oil on the top, then close the lid. I've kept jars of pesto in my refrigerator for as long as three years and it gets better as it ages. During the time I've been making pesto, I've only lost two jars (air bubbles). Freezing is OK, but the flavor won't really develop like it does when it's refrigerated. P.S. Don't bother chopping the parsley - it will get cut up in the food processor with everything else.
I did not add the optional parsley. The recipe was surprisingly fast and my kids loved it, wow! I recommend making it a couple of hours ahead of time and let it sit room temp. Helps with the raw taste. Also taste great with a little fresh tomatoe and feta cheese, mabey on a pizza.
Perfect! Didn't change any of the measurements. Did not use the parsley and lightly toasted the pine nuts ... I have been trying to make pesto now for some time and it either had too much of something or not enough of something else. This is now my go-to recipe. Don't forget when storing to put a layer of olive oil on the top to help it from turning brown if you want to keep that brilliant green color. Magnifico! UPDATE: I have made this again without toasting the pine nuts and in my opinion there is no need to toast. It taste great either way!
This is awesome! And sooo easy! I added it to penne pasta with chicken, garlic and artichoke sausage and it was delicious! I took the previous recommendation and let it sit at room temp to blend and it really did cut down on the sharp "raw" flavor. Glad there is extra for dinner tonight!
Very good recipe. I have made it twice now. It definately needs some lemon juice for flavor, I use the juice of 1 large lemon. I was able to cut down on the olive oil as well. I have tried it both with and without parsley, and definately prefer it without. It is good with parsley, but doesn't taste like a true pesto sauce. Would give 5 stars if not for that. Definately worth trying without it though.
I had too much basil in my little "basil garden" and every other day i get about handful of basil (had to trim it every other day to let the little leaves at the bottom get sunlight). I've made spagetti sauce with basil and I love it...but I was running out of ideas and with 2 well packed zip lock sandwich bags filled with basil. So viola! I made pesto. If you're a pesto/basil lover you'd definitely love this recipe! Put it over some french bread and some cheese and pop it in the oven. Yummy!
I'm not much into pesto but I made this recipe because my wife loves pesto. It turned out very good. I halved the recipe and was enough for 8 ounces of linguini plus a pair of cooked chicken breasts cut up into cubes. The pesto was smooth and not runny at all. Will probably become a staple for us.
Awesome! I roasted a whole head of garlic and used it. I added a squeeze of lemon juice and then froze the leftovers in ice cube trays for my sons. They can take a cube out and use it anytime they want pesto pasta. Easy!
This recipe is great! I use only high quality Parmiggiano Reggiano (expensive, but oh so worth it!) I boil farfalle or penne, drain the pasta, put the pesto in the emptied pan and heat on medium-low, add the pasta back in after a few minutes, and heat/stir it all up to coat the pasta well. Add a litte salt, some fresh mozzarella, maybe some marinated sun-dried tomatoes - YUM!!
Disliked pesto all my life until recently so I don't have a lot of experience to compare this to. I did add some salt and pepper, omitted the parsley and roasted the pine nuts. We adore garlic at our house so I increased the amount. Very easy to make!
Fantastic pesto! I used cashews since I didn't have pine nuts and 2 cloves of garlic instead of 4. I also added the parsley, and a bit of sea salt. I tossed the pesto with penne pasta, sun dried tomoatoes, and grilled chicken. All I can say is YUM! Thanks Valerie!
Four cloves of garlic was too much for me. It over-powered all the fresh basil and stood out very strong, almost spicy. My cloves weren't even big. I tried adding more basil and olive oil but the garlic still overwhelmed the entire sauce. Next time I would add the garlic last; one clove at a time; and taste test as I go. Still a good recipe and worth playing around with to suit personal tastes. I used it to make Pesto Cheesy Chicken Rolls and as an element baked inside this dish it worked very well.
great basic recipe...my only alteration was a little course ground salt and pepper...loverly! an added plus is that it fit in the minibowl of my food processor...a big enough batch to use some basil but small enough that i had enough of everything in the house...i smeared some on some cod and baked it for dinner then froze the rest...thanks!
Excellent and Easy! I used 1 cup of pine nuts. Tasty, will keep this recipe.
Definitely one of the better pestos that I've had. A little too much garlic (and I love garlic). Also, it says the recipe yields 2 cups, but really it's 1 cup.
Great but a little strong on the garlic--I might use only 2 or 3 cloves next time. I also used toasted salted almonds in place of the pine nuts since I didn't have any. I left out the parsley and added a little lemon juice. Don't try to do this in the blender--it is too thick; use a food processor! Thanks for the recipe...
I made this the other day with fresh basil from the garden. I added 3 cloves of garlic and walnuts instead of pine nuts. Very good but very garlicy. Next time I will use just 2 cloves. This is very good on french baguette with sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella and cracked pepper with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A meal in itself with a glass of wine. Salut!
Quick easy and healthy... what more could you want in a recipe??? i used a little less cheese than it called for. My picky picky family loved it! we put it on wheat pasta and sprinkled more cheese on top(son loves cheese so he had to see that it was on there)
Easy and delicious. I cut the garlic in half, toasted the pine nuts, and omitted the parsley.
I used a variety of herbs from my garden. Thyme, sweet basil, oregano, parsely, with a majority of regular basil. It turned out wonderful. I brushed some on sliced baguette bread, topped with chopped tomatoes & then parmesean. Baked in the oven, it is a nice form of bruschetta. Easy and delicious. Thank you.
This is an excellent pesto. I make it using just enough olive oil (maybe 1/4 cup) so that it will blend in the blender. This produces a pesto 'paste'. I scoop it out with a 1/4 cup measure and put it in mounds on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Put that in the freezer; once frozen, simply pop them off and put all in a freezer zip-lock bag and you can have pesto quickly, whenever you like. (I don't use the parsley.) This is great in the sun-dried tomato, pesto, tuna salad recipe on this site.
This recipe was amazing. Very simple - extremely good. I added a bit more parmesan, as well as a dash of sea salt and some black pepper. I added this to gourmet gift baskets at Christmas last year, and friends are now asking me to make it again for them this year!
This recipe is so quick and easy! I loved it! I skipped the parsley but kept everything else the same. We had loads of basil in our garden and my husband made tons of this (without cheese), then froze in ice cube trays. We now have a bag of ready-made pesto cubes in our freezer and just need to add cheese when we cook with it!
Great recipe! I really like that it calls for only 1/2 c. of olive oil. I try to watch my fat intake, but have found that low-fat pesto recipes are not as tasty. An easy way to freeze pesto is to line a cookie sheet with wax paper and drop tablespoonsful onto the paper. Put into the freezer and once the pesto is frozen solid, you can peel it off the paper, put into an airtight container, and put back into the freezer.
The great thing about pesto is that you can adjust it to taste; I used about 1 cup of pine nuts, and some extra basil. I also added the juice of half a lemon. You really can't beat fresh basil, garlic & parmesan (oh, and ps: I used Kraft! shocking but it came out just fine if you don't want to splurge on real parmesan) :)
I agree with naples31402 that the garlic should be reduced by half. I'm a cheese lover so I kept the amount as is. My biggest alteration was adding a single Thai Pepper. Wow! If you like hot this will work for you. I wouldn't add more than one pepper. You can use a fresh Cayenne Pepper in place of the Thai Pepper which should be slightly less hotter. BEATLEFAN1964 has an excellent point using a few drops of fresh lemon juice to mitigate the oxidation of the fresh basil. I made fresh linguini pasta for this dish which was a great idea. Just remember to keep about 1/4 cup of the pasta water and mix that with the pesto sauce to help bind it to the pasta. Buon Appetite!
Yum! Absolutely scrumptious! I didn't add any parsley, and adjusted the oil. Also added salt.
FANTASTIC! I whipped this up in no time, tossed into angel hair pasta, and served it topped with shrimp scampi...just wonderful! I'll be sure to grow lots of fresh basil from now on! The response from the people I served it to (myself included)..."Oh my God, this is good...oh, wow, this is SO good!"
I was looking for something to utilize my bountiful crop of basil this year and made this pesto. I liked it very much as is (with a scant teaspoon of kosher salt). I am freezing what we can't eat immediately and appreciate the tip of adding a thin layer of olive oil.
I would have given it 5 stars if the nuts had called for toasting. As is, it's a solid 4, easy, good, healthy, and fresh. I used extra virgin olive oil and followed the recipe exactly. Please, toast your pine nuts. It only takes a couple minutes, but makes a world of difference. Thanks for the easy recipe!
Delicious! I subbed almonds for pine nuts, a bit less oil and cheese than called for. Otherwise followed pretty much as written. Did throw in a dash of nutmeg for kicks. Tasty, tasty, tasty!
fantastic, make a huge batch and freeze in ice cube trays! great idea
Very quick and very easy. I used a little more olive oil that in the recipes because I thought it was a little too thick.
I followed the recipe but added lemon juice (half a lg) as well as salt. Left out the parsley. Thsi was fabulous over pasta! I also spread some on toasted baquettes & topped w/ diced tomatoes then I took the remainder, pureed some roasted red peppers & added them (I added enough to where the color was more rusty than green) then served it on top of grilled flank steak. Loved them all...thansk for the recipe Valerie!
The entire family loved this! I toasted the pine nuts, used fresh parmesan, and left out the parsley. My husband said it's a keeper!!
This is definately a keeper recipe just the way it is. One time, I went to the store and they were out of the fresh basil so I used a tube of basil and it was good as well. It freezes well made both ways.
Just made this last night. Perfecto! I mixed it with shrimp and a 1/4 cup of water then put it on medium high of a couple of minutes and then let it simmer for 20 - 30 minutes and then added the linguini and BAM! most excellent dinner served! Thank you!
Really great, and super easy & fast recipe. Excellent. I added a touch of water while blending to make it a bit creamier. Otherwise, perfect. Watch it -- it's heavy on the garlic, even for a garlic-lover like me!
AMAZING! This was quick and easy to prepare! I picked the basil and parsley from my container garden, and substituted almonds for the pine nuts and freshly shredded Asiago for the Parmesan because it's what I had on hand for these ingredients. I'm telling you, this was fantastic! I can't believe how simple it was to throw together! For such a minimal investment of time, the taste was fantastic! Thank you for a wonderful post! I will make this often and freeze what I have left over in ice cube trays or small containers! Once frozen, I'll remove from the container and store in freezer bags.
This is very good and easy. I actually put some in an ice cube tray to freeze and will probably make more to freeze since I have a ton of basil left to use. I will add salt next time though, it needed a bit. Someone else had suggested toasting the pine nuts first and that is great idea, it really brings out the flavor.
I made this recipe with basil from my garden. It took about 5 minutes to prepare, and it tastes like a gourmet meal. I fried up some chicken strips with a touch of olive oil, added them to some cooked farfalle (pasta), and topped it off with this pesto. Delicious!
Excellent, authentic recipe! Leave out the parsley and use Locatelli cheese (a salty pecorino). You'll find when making pesto you must adjust the ingredient amounts depending on the water content of the basil leaves and pine nuts.
pretty good - very easy and I will keep this recipe on hand for more - I've just acquired an affinity for pesto so this is a good base. :)
never made pesto before this. followed others notes - used about half as much garlic, slightly less olive oil, no parsley. Did toast pine nuts and added about 1/2 t coarse salt. This is terrific and so simple - will make again and again!
This was very good. It was my first attempt to make/eat pesto. I toasted the pine nuts (as someone else recommended) and omitted the parsley. Next time, though, I'm going to try a little chicken broth and a little less oil. It was just a bit too oily for my liking. I tossed it with a lb. of fetuccini and cubed chicken breasts and it there was a bit leftover. I'm looking forward to making it again.
A very good, basic pesto recipe. I didn't add the parsley but added a quarter cup of chopped pecans into the blender and mixed it in. I'm freezing this stuff as soon as I make it and my freezer is filling up fast!
Ive been using a similar recipe for years. NOTE: One bunch of basil from your local farmers market is about 2 cups...I find that really helpful when purchasing the pine nuts which can be pricey. Very basic and flavorful!
Oh, man, this stuff is GOOOOOOOD! I wanted to make my own pesto to cristen my new Cuisinart and so I could control the oil content. It's so hard to get massive amounts of basil where I live. So I could only amass two cups. I added extra garlic, parmesan/romano mix and some lemon juice to taste. Tastes amazing! I eat this stuff by itself - no bread, pita, pasta or anything. It's great on its own. Thanks for sharing, Valerie (my middle name, by the way!)
Awesome! Perfect! I even realized I was out of pine nuts after everything was in my food processor and subbed in while salted almonds in place of them. Still perfect! Was planning to use up a lot of basil by making this and freezing for futures use, however, this turned out so awesome that I revised dinner plans tonight to find a recipe that called for pesto. Best I've made yet.
Excellent pesto. Definitely toast the pine nuts. Very tasty, easy to make, worth the effort! Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!!
I'm picky about recipes, but this one is really good. I didn't have pine nuts, so I used walnuts. I also added a dash of salt and omitted the parsley. The proportions were perfect. Thank you!
I added a little lemon juice (half a lemon, about 1/4 cup) and salted to taste. Plus, I only used 2 cloves of garlic based on other reviews. It was excellent.
Wow! I love fresh basil and this is a great way to add that fresh taste to my cooking. I omitted the parsley and cut back a little on the cheese.
Sweet lordy! This is the ideal recipe. Fast, easy, GREAT-tasting and healthy. Excellent!!
Excellent!! I keep this in my frige all the time, and use it on EVERYTHING!!! I didn't have quite enough basil the first time I made it, but it was still great! I left out the parsley, and I like the garlic just as it is!!
Made this for a Father's Day cookout & it was very good. However, the following day...this was to die for! The flavors were awesome. I also toasted the pine nuts & added the juice of half a lemon to keep the beautiful, rich green color. Fantastic!
we love this recipe for pesto - it keeps for several weeks in the fridg. I do not use the parsley.
Loved it toasted the pine nuts and put into ice cube trays and love it great for the both of us.. Yummy
This is very good. If you don't have pine-nuts, walnuts work, too. Did this in my vita-mix for a smoother finished product, and then froze it in an ice cube tray. Each cube is about 2 Tblsp, which is enough for my husband and I to share when having pesto on pasta.
As written, I did NOT like this particular recipe for pesto. I personally prefer a basil taste as opposed to an overwhelming garlic taste for pesto. (and I only used 3 cloves instead of 4) If I made this again, it would be with more oil, 1 clove of garlic, and salt.
Love this pesto sauce! Here's how me and my family love it: Buy basil cheap at the Farmer's Market ($1/bunch). 1 bunch = 3 cups (as in the recipe). Buy 2 bunches, and plan to double the recipe (why not? kitchen already messy!). Use fresh garlic, not the dried-up kind. One garlic bulb easy to find at the same market. Parm cheese? Fresh slab only (sorry - expensive, but that's the way it goes!). Olive oil? EVOO only. Pine nuts (aka pinons - ouch! $23/lb. at Whole Foods.) Close your eyes and buy ~3/4 cup: you'll have extra. Prob = $10. Remember: you're doubling the recipe. Parsley? Heck, no! Make one batch at a time; combine at the end. Use only the leaves of the basil. Grate the parm cheese right into the Cuisinart. Toast the pinons to light brown in a skillet - YES! Put the whole to do into the Cuisinart and blend min. 2 minutes (or else its too chunky). Set aside. Do it all again, and then put the first batch back in together and give it another minute or two. Unbelievably divine. I was eating it straight out of the cuisinart. This will make a lot, but we plan to freeze it. The extra toasted pinons will be SO NICE, sprinkled over the top. Tonight is pesto tortellini night. Mmmmm... is it dinnertime yet?
This is a great pesto recipe -- the only thing I added was a pinch of salt. Tasty!
This was my first attempt at pesto.. The garlic was OVERwhelming. Perhaps I bought a bulb of bad garlic. Make sure to process is for a very long time. I used some good quality lemon olive oil along with my very good quality olive oil. I had to make adjustments because it was inedible as it was. I added the juice of 1 lemon, a pinch of sea salt, a pinch of sugar and more basil. The next time I make it I will use garlic salt/powder instead of garlic.
MAKE THIS!!!!!!! It was the biggest hit in my family. We traveld with the left overs it was so good and we had to share the wealth.
perfect pesto. i lightly toast the pine nuts. great on pasta, bread, potatoes, any meat, any fish. freezes well just don't ever heat it.
After looking at many pesto recipes on this site I decided to try this one. I just made two batches. 2 changes. 1) I toasted the pine nuts. 2) I used 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice and 1/4 cup olive oil. This was my first time making pesto but definitely not my last! Very good. Thank you for the recipe.
This is a delicious and simple recipe that only takes a few minutes to prepare. It goes great over pasta on its own. No need to add or change a thing.
Delicious, and even better the second day when the tastes get stronger. I had it on cheese tortellini, threw in some sundried tomatoes, mozzarella (after tossing to keep it nice and white), and diced smoked ham. A keeper, for sure.
DELICIOUS! We loved this. However, the garlic was very dominating...maybe I'll cut back by a clove or two next time...
This was a good basic pesto recipe. However, I think I would add a little salt next time to balance out the sweetness of the basil. Otherwise, it's a good base.
Great pesto! I added an extra clove of garlic and substituted baby spinach for the parsley. It turned out great, I will definatly be making this often.
This was awesome!! Perfect mix.... with only one exception..... it needed salt. I think I put about a 1/4 to a 1/2 teaspoon in there. Then it was perfect! I did try a couple other pesto recipes on here (I forget what it was called, but it had toasted almonds in it.... way to nutty for me!), and this one is what pesto is supposed to taste like, slightly nutty, garlicy and perfectly full of basil and parm... Thanks so much!
Great recipe!! I used fresh basil from my garden but standard Parmesan cheese. I did add sea salt after I tossed it with pasta, it really needed it to bring out all the flavors. next time I will try toasting the pine nuts as suggested and I may cut back on one clove of garlic, it is really strong.
This was really delicious. I didn't add the parsley because I forgot to. I did add lemon b/c I like the bright taste it adds and it keeps the basil from turning black. I also added some sea salt b/c other reviewers stated it needed some salt. I didn't measure it but didn't add a lot. I thought the ratio of ingredients in this was perfect - I could taste each element seperately and blended together perfectly. This will probably be my go-to pesto recipe! I initially rated this a 5 star recipe then realized that since I added juice of a half of a lemon and salt, that I should give it 4 stars. Still a keeper and still going to be my go-to pesto recipe!
I threw this together in 5 minutes and the taste was remarkable! A definite keeper and one I plan to use again soon. I used it for the Chicken Pesto a la Lisa recipe I found at this site. Both are wonderful! I plan to make this for my folks on Father's Day. I am sure they'll love it.
I do not like Pesto. DH had never had it before and found a recipe on this site that called for it. I had plenty of basil in my garden so I agreed to make this. I used walnuts nstead of pine nuts and only made 1/2 the recipe. I now love Pesto! This is the best stuff! I am planning on making some and putting it up as gifts! Thank you for sharing this one!
Don't even bother with a blender. It was a pain in the neck! Using the pulse button on the food processor was a dream!!
You can't go wrong with this recipe. As others have mentioned, all this recipe needs is salt, to taste.
This recipe makes about enough sauce for 3/4 a pound (3/4 of 1 package)of pasta (toss well). Don't judge the flavor until you've heated it. (Heat on low). We made it as stated except used about 2 cups/full-handfuls of basil leaves and used only 2 large cloves of garlic. We roasted the pine nuts (watch carefully-- they burn easily). It also definitely needs a few sprinkles of salt. Just add extra oil for a full pound of pasta. Very pleased with how this came out and simple to make!
This is a great basic pesto recipe. The only changes I made were to substitute one cup of spinach for basil and to add salt. Otherwise it's great! This amount will cover about a pound of pasta with a little leftover. Enjoy!
I made this with walnuts (its all I had on hand) turned out perfect, super easy to make , I used the total amount of garlic it called for and I loved it. Great recipe!
