Delicious! I used toasted pecans. My pesto has a brownish color with flecks of the bright green basil. I used some on pasta and froze some for later use. Great recipe - I will be using it again! Update - I made this again with raw pecans. This time I got the lovely green color we all come to expect from a good pesto. I love what the sweetness of the pecans do for this pesto. Truly delicious!
Which type of basil leaves do you use? I grow sweet basil boxwood basil and spicy basil. Which would you recommend?
Very good!! I had never used pecans for this and it was exellent!. Anne-in- Canada
Thanks for the idea of using pecans! I will make this again. FYI I toasted the pecans in the microwave first to add more depth of flavor. (Melt 2 tsp to 1 tablespoon butter or margarine in medium bowl; toss in 1 1/2 cup nuts. Spread nuts out evenly on large microwave safe plate and toast 1 minute at a time stirring at those intervals until a nice toasty smell develops 2-5 minutes. Check often as microwaves differ of course. Also if the nuts seem too crowded toast in more than one batch.)
I was so happy to find a recipe using pecans instead of pine nuts since realizing how expensive pine nuts are. I did not toast the pecans and the pesto stayed green and was absolutely delicious!!
I made this for dinner tonight. Used pecans fresh from Georgia and basil freshly harvested from my garden. Followed the proportions of the recipe exactly. I didn't have parmesian cheese so I subbed pecorino romano and it worked out fine. The recipe is silent as to which kind of olive oil to use-- I decided not to use EVOO in favor of lighter olive oil. This pesto has a lovely delicate flavor that my family enjoyed served with crispy gnocchi. Glad to have a delicious affordable alternative to pinenuts. Thank you grettagirl for the delicious recipe.
I always have a TON of basil in the summer. One day recently I wanted to make pesto but only had pecans on hand. I saw that someone else had made it this way so I knew I was good to go. It was tasty and just as good as traditional pine nut basil pesto. Thanks for confirming what I thought would be a good recipe.
this is now my family's favorite recipe. We use it as spread on sandwiches, we add tofutti sour cream for a cream pesto pasta sauce, we use it on pizza, we add it to baked chicken, we grill with it on burgers...their most favorite is pulled chicken and mozzarella in a pan toasted wrap. Quick, easy, and fabulous!
I made this with fresh mammoth basil out of my garden. Mammoth basil has a slightly musky flavor as compared to common basil. I followed the recipe exactly as written, except I did not have shredded parmesan, just the standard grated Parmesan in the plastic jar (I know). Even so, it turned out very good. Next time, I will use fresh parmesan, and I can imagine how much better it will be.
Too many pecans. Reduce the pecans and add oil slowly at the end.
