Quick and easy pesto to top your pasta. A great change from red sauce.
This was incredibly good! I arranged boneless chicken breasts in a 9x13 dish. I coated each breast with the pesto and then layered sliced tomatos on top. Sprinkled on shredded mozzarella and baked. So good!
Read MoreSorry, but we didn't care for this recipe. I make pesto every summer and this is the most bland, oily recipe I've ever used. It was flavorless and I had to add tons of salt just to salvage it at all...and I'm not typically a salt user. I also found that it blended much more quickly and smoothly than my usual recipe does, another indicator that there has way more oil (and thereby less flavor). Thanks anyway.
Read MoreThis was incredibly good! I arranged boneless chicken breasts in a 9x13 dish. I coated each breast with the pesto and then layered sliced tomatos on top. Sprinkled on shredded mozzarella and baked. So good!
I have loved pesto since I was three and stole a bowl of it off the kitchen table. As long as there is a nut, basil, olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese and a bit of lemon, it is to die for. The different nuts make whole different tastes, personally, I use walnut because they are so much cheaper. Roasting any nut first in a dry skillet makes the taste even better. I also like to subsitute argula for the basil, and asiago cheese on occasion for a different taste. Lemon basil is good, but sweet basil is the herb leaf that is typically used in pesto sauces. You can make this with less oil, too, and make it a bit better for you- but the extra oil makes it that much smoother. Thanks for the good recipe, Sara.
Very good. I didn't have walnuts; so I used pine nuts. I wanted to make it a little less fattening. In place of the 1 cup of olive oil, I used 1/2 cup chicken broth and 1/2 cup olive oil.
This recipe was quite good. I absolutely love garlic, but I found 4 raw cloves to be a bit much, and I was surprised. Maybe next time I'll use 2-3. I used toasted pine nuts instead of walnuts. Expensive but worth it. I also added fresh parmesan and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. I'll definitely make this again. I was concerned about the fat and calorie content as listed on the recipe, but when I made this I came out with around 2 cups of pesto. The recipe says 4 servings, but this pesto is extremely rich. On a smaller-sized bowl of pasta I used like 2 spoonfuls of the sauce - not 1/2 cup - so I doubt I consumed anywhere near the fat and calorie content that was listed.
This recipe is incredible! It's the best sauce I've ever had in my life. I make it as often as I can. I grow the basil in my garden so it's extra flavorful. I've reduced the oil from 1 cup to 3/4 cup to thicken the sauce a bit, and I use only 2 cloves of garlic, not 4. TRY THIS RECIPE! You will love it!
Mmm...this was very good. The recipe, as written, makes 2 cups. I used 3 cloves garlic instead of 4, and found it was plenty. A bit of lemon juice mixed in will help prevent browning, if you're freezing it.
Good recipe! I halved the amount of oil, and tripled the amount of cheese. Awesome!
I followed RainbowEyes and left out the nuts, and most of the olive oil, plus she didn't like it that way, I followed her changes and left out the basil too. It didn't taste very good, and my wife will eat anything. Next time I'll leave out all the ingredients and see if that helps
really great basic recipe. i used pine nuts instead of walnuts for more authentic taste.
This was great pesto.It's great with either pinenuts or walnuts.I did cut back on the oil alittle.I use pan spray on a ice cube tray and spoon pesto into each one.Put into freezer until frozen then pop them out into a ziplock bag and put them back in the freezer til your ready to use.They'll keep for months.
Made 2 batches. One with pine nuts and the other with walnuts. I blanched the basil leaves for about 45 seconds before processing with the other ingredients. It keeps the bright green color of the pesto, instead of the browning that occurs.
It came out wonderfully rich and tasty. I added about a cup of chopped fresh spinach and about a tablespoon of lemon juice as well. Didn't really measure the ingredients but it still came out great. Even better after a night in the refrigerator. Great on whole-wheat tortillas with melted cheese and tomatoes and a nice cup of soup...great light lunch or dinner.
Made enough of this recipe to freeze individual portions in an ice cube tray. Once frozen, I put them in a freezer bag. Now I can take one pesto cube and place on a chicken breast -- just as many as I need -- before cooking.
Pesto is one of my favorite foods ever since the first time I ate it as a student in Genoa. You can sub pinenuts for the walnuts & I like to toast them first. I thought the 4 cloves was WAY TOO overpowering. You won't taste the nuttiness of pinenuts/walnuts and the sweet basil flavors. Pesto needs a balance of all the different flavors. Two is sufficient. Use fresh grated Parm, too. The real stuff if you can find it. You can save it in fridge with a thin layer of olive oil poured over top-stays bright green.
Roasted the walnuts for about 7 minutes in a 350 degree oven to start and let cool. Needs quite a bit of salt, but taste and add as you need. Only used 2/3 cup of olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan, also added the juice of 1/2 a small lemon. Delicious. I saved out 1/2 cup to use immediately and had enough left to freeze one ice cube tray to use later.
I got a food processor for my birthday and pesto was the first thing I made in it. I liked this recipe because it used walnuts instead of pine nuts (they are so pricey and don't have the flavor that I remember, we used to buy pine nuts from the local indian tribe, freshly gathered and roasted, mmm). I used Thai Basil, it's a sharper taste and since I bought it at the local Asian Grocery - less $$! I left out the parmesan cheese, because I wanted this to last a long time in the fridge and I like to add cheese separately since I like to use pesto in balsamic bread dip and in eggplant parmigiana (wow! this was the best eggplant parmigiana ever). Thanks for the super recipe!
Made it last fall with the end of my garden basil and have been enjoying pesto ever since! I made a batch in the blender, then froze in ice cube trays. Once they were frozen solid, I transferred to freezer bags. Whenever I make stews or tomato soup, just drop in a cube or two! This recipe was so good I doubled the basil in my garden this year!
Sorry, but we didn't care for this recipe. I make pesto every summer and this is the most bland, oily recipe I've ever used. It was flavorless and I had to add tons of salt just to salvage it at all...and I'm not typically a salt user. I also found that it blended much more quickly and smoothly than my usual recipe does, another indicator that there has way more oil (and thereby less flavor). Thanks anyway.
It was suggested to me by a friend to substitute Spinach for the basil and to give the sauce a kick add a fresh jalapeño to the blender. The spinach tastes great and as Mom, I feel good my kids are getting their spinach! Great versatile recipe - it has been a family favorite in my home for years!
it is very good, but i agree with others, not as much walnuts and more basil, cheese and garlic. I just added to taste.
This is the first time I ever made pesto and it was so easy. I used pine nuts instead of walnuts because that is what most pesto recipes call for. Very garlicky but we love that! I have three basil plants that are growing like weeds, so I made a big batch and froze it. I put it by heaping tablespoons into well greased mini muffin cupholders and when frozen, popped out and put in a Ziploc bag for future use this winter. It will be a nice taste of summer when it's cold and snowy outside!
I would add toasted pine nuts and toasted almonds and hazelnuts that have been chopped instead of walnuts. Also you can add chopped flat leaf parsley to stretch the basil. Roasted garlic and salt and pepper after putting in your cheese and whirling it up. Good start.
I can't believe I have never made pesto before but I haven't. This is the first recipe I have tried. Overall I thought it was really good. I think I might need more parm but I also didn't exactly measure it so it may have been on the light side by my own fault. I liked the walnuts but am interested in what it will taste like with traditional pine nuts instead. I used it on baked chicken the first night (which was okay, think I would have preferred to grill it) and on small elbow macaroni the second time - which was really, really good. It made 2 cups. I also did squeeze a half a lemon in it to keep the basil from turning black, which worked and added just another great flavor element to it (and my Italian friends told me I needed lemon). I would make this again but will also still try other pesto recipes.
Easy, affordable, tasty. I finished the basil plant growing season by making 3 batches of this recipe. I filled ice cube trays with the sauce, froze them, and placed the frozen pesto cubes in a freezer bag for easy 1 Tablespoon servings in the future.
I loved finding a recipe for pesto with walnuts instead of pine nuts since pine nuts can be more expensive as well as seasonal. I made a couple of changes, I added 1 tbl of lemon juice before chopping the basil to keep the fresh green color of the basil, tripled the cheese, and cut the oil back to 3/4-1 c.
Delicious and very easy. Walnuts are so good for you and full of Omega 3's. I think I will make another batch an freeze it in ice cube trays and then transfer into zip lock bags so I always have some on hand to use in a variety of dishes!
I have a basil plant and found this receipe so I could use some of my home grown basil. I'm not fond of walnuts so I used pine nuts instead. The flavor was incrediable. At first the basil was a little strong (I used to much) but after the pesto sat in the frig for a week my pasta dish turned out perfect.
I thought this was excellent. Followed the recipe exactly, put in my blender and used on chicken panini's.
Excellent! Great simple recipe to use up fresh garden pesto. Didn't have walnuts or pine nuts. Used Almonds. Plan to try cashews or the walnuts next time I make it.
This was my first try with pesto and it turned out wonderfully! The recipe was super easy to follow and it was a nice quick recipe. I did put double the cheese, but other than that, the recipe is great!
I love how this receipt uses walnuts instead of the more expensive pine nuts. It is just as good!!!
really a great and easy recipe - made up some pasta with grilled chicken & mushrooms, cold glass of wine - was a perfect dinner.
I love this pesto recipe. I cut the amount of garlic in half to prevent it from over powering the other flavors. I've used the pesto over pasta with sun dried tomatoes and it is excellent. I've also put it on grilled chicken with fresh mozzarella and garden tomatoes. Yum!!!,
I liked this recipe and I liked the fact that it recommended cheaper walnuts versus more expensive pine nuts. However, it felt like the walnut flavor just totally overpowered the other flavors. I guess some things are just too good to be true.
This recipe is great just as it is. Before you add anything extra, give it a chance to sit overnight. The flavor deepens and becomes much more rich and less "oil" tasting.
This was really good. I added an extra clove of garlic and not nearly as much olive oil- maybe 1/4 cup. It does need plenty of salt and pepper for my taste, but it was yummy!
Absolutely delicious! Makes a lot of sauce. I used 3 cups PACKED basil leaves and didn't change the other proportions at all and it came out perfect. Definitely toast the nuts. This is a great recipe!
Great taste. I serve this over noodles with red peppers and onions that have been roasted on the grill.
Delicious! I made this to use on the easy pizza crust recipe on this site. There's nothing like the smell of handfuls of fresh basil! The only thing that could have made this recipe easier for me is if I had a decent sized food processor instead of a mini thing.
It was great. Walnuts or pinenuts, I just use what I have on hand. I am not a strict measurer, but generally I use a little less olive oil.
THIS IS SO TASTY!!!! I changed it up by not using walnuts (forgot to purchase them), adding an extra clove of garlic (it was small organic garlic...), but most importantly: adding cream cheese to thicken (about 3/4 cup, but I wasn't measuring)! This was BY FAR the BEST pesto I have ever had, and every bite felt like a taste of heaven!
Well, I plucked my basil plant pretty much clean in order to make this, but it was soooo worth it! I decided to toast my walnuts to give them a richer flavor, which added a little more depth to the resulting sauce. I also took a whole head of garlic, peeled off the papery skins, rubbed with olive oil, loosely wrapped in foil and cooked at 400 degrees for about an hour. With the toasted nuts and the roasted garlic, this was amazing. I am not sure exactly how much olive oil I added...I just slowly drizzled it in as my food processor did its thing, until it reached the consistency I was looking for. Yummmmy! Thanks sal, for a keeper of a recipe :)
I have never made a pesto sauce, and tried this recipe. It was absolutely delicious! I did do two things different, which were using almonds in place of the pine nuts, and parmesan cheese (in the can) in place of the fresh p.c. I do plan on trying the fresh p.c. sometime, but the other worked out fine.
I followed the recipe as written to a T. I think there is way to many walnuts that is all I tasted. I would not even give it to my family
Classic. Some people may like a touch of sweetness in their pesto; try adding 1/4 tsp of sugar.
I use pine nuts and also crush up a vitamin c tablet to keep the pesto green. Flatten it out in a plastic sealed baggie and toss in freezer. Take out, toss in pasta water to thaw, cut open and toss onto pasta. Done. I add fresh grated cheese at the time of serving and not freeze with the cheese.
This was quite good and easy to make. I was very happy with it, especially considering I'd never made pesto before. The only changes I made were using 1/2 cup pine nuts and 1 cup walnuts instead of all walnuts, and using a little less oil than recommended. If I was making this again, I'd change a few more things: first, I'd use more basil and less nuts. This pesto tasted very nutty to me compared to others I've had. Second, I would use even less oil - no more than 3/4 cup.
This sauce was exactly what I was looking for but just a little too garlicky for me. I only put in 3 cloves but it was still a little too much for us. Next time I will only use 1-2 cloves but other than that, I couldn’t have been happier with the result. I added some chicken and used pine nuts instead of walnuts. It was delicious!
The taste is off, I think there is too much nuts (a quarter to half a cup would probably be enough). I used only 1/2 cup of olive oil and it was plenty.
This is the best Pesto ever! I do the same exact recipe at home. Yes, Walnuts are cheaper but I would recommend if you are going to use them instead of the trasitional pine nuts, to roast them lightly in a non stick fry pan until they releases oils and become fragrant. I use roasted pine nuts since I do not like the skins from the walnuts in my pesto. I also use Pecorino Romano cheese if I have it, because I love the more potent cheese flavor. Yummo!
I agree with others: I decreased the olive oil to 1/2 the amount; added a bit more cheese (1/2 cup instead of 1/4); toasted and used pine nuts instead of walnuts; added about 1 T fresh lemon juice.
My sister-in-law has made a very similar sauce for years and it is definitely the best sauce you will find for its ease of use. I have seen a few reviews stating oil problems. My recipe uses a blender full of basil (just loosely piled) and a 1/2 cup of oil. Then three tbls of cheese and 4 cloves of garlic (will be garlicky). Salt and pepper aren't required and 4 servings will be made. We serve our's with the pine nuts on top and if you want it cheesier then you can easily put it on after.
This is by far my favorite Pesto recipe!! We use it on pasta, panini's, and pizza. I love growing my own basil, and this recipe freezes very nicely.
Turned out very well and will make again, however it was a bit greasy so next time we will scale back on the oil a bit.
Delicious!!! I made a bunch of it then froze it in individual portions for easy dinners.
Help! I have no idea what I did wrong, but I have great tasting Almond Pesto paste. Certainly not too oily in terms of consistency. (Maybe a little oily tasting since I ended up using well over 1 cup of evoo.) Did I pulse it too long? Yikes! Any suggestions???
Really good. I "eyeballed" the amount of olive oil until I had the taste and consistancy I wanted. I will save this one and make it again. I'm using it on an Italian grilled cheese sandwich with tomato and provalone cheese paired with a zuppa tuscana soup. Perfect!
I believe the KEY to any delicious recipe is quality, and that includes the ingredients to this excellent recipe for Pesto. I use freshly picked organic basil from my outdoor plant; freshly grated imported parmesan cheese, and olive oil from my Father's island of Crete in Greece. The olive oil brand is "Mythology" and its excellant. When it comes to cooking, no substitutes, compromises, no exceptions !
This recipe came out so YUMMY. I loved that just a little bit of the sauce was enough for a plateful of pasta. It's so creamy and nutty tasting - the texture is kind of gritty (from the nuts) and the basil smell - WOW. It was a little oily for my taste, so I would decrease the olive oil (that's why 4 instead of 5 stars). It was REALLY easy - just toss all the ingredients in and blend. I will definitely make this many more times. Modifications: -I used about 3/4 cup of macadamia nuts instead of walnuts since I had the macadamia nuts handy -I would use less olive oil next time. Maybe take it down to about 3/4 of a cup. -I think it tastes better with fettuccine than with other pastas! This is just my opinion :-) -Goes REALLY well with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon -I used about 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4-1/8 tsp pepper
I cut back the oil to 3/4 c to avoid the floating slick most pestos have. I shouldn't have. The proportions on this recipe are just right.
I've had a whole lot of basil growing in my windowsill all summer and needed to do something with it. This was so delicious my husband said it was the best pesto he'd ever had. I decreased the oil to 3/4 cup and since I didn't have any walnuts or pine nuts in the house I threw in some pecans. Served it with spaghettini and grilled chicken. It was delicious!
Excellent. I made this for a ladies luncheon. Put on french bread with fresh tomatoes and cheese then toasted to melt the cheese. I had to give everyone the recipe. I will make again!!
My 18 y/o son made this tonight with basil from our garden, pine nuts, Romano and the 4 cloves of garlic. Awesome!
I've made this several times. It's so good and so easy - forgiving, too. I don't measure very carefully with this type of recipe. I had 5 cups of basil leaves this time so I added extra of everything and just added oil until it was the right consistency. Yum!!
Only thing I left out was the nuts, as I did not have any. I also cut down the olive oil to 3/4 cup. Was far too rich and the flavor wasn't that great at all. Even my not-at-all-picky husband didn't like it.
I think this recipe is great! I've made it a few times. With pine nuts so expensive, walnuts make a great substitute & is a barely noticeable difference.
This is delicious. This was the recipe I chose to use based on all the other reviews. I had never made pesto before. It came out fantastic. I used in conjuction with the "penne with chicken and pesto" recipe on this site. Sure to be a regular in our house.
This recipe is excellent. Used pecans since I didn't have walnuts and it turned out perfect. Thank you for such a great recipe.
It was okay - WAY too many walnuts - and I used half of what the recipe said. It's a little bland for my taste, but I'm sure a little tweaking could save this recipe.
I think this is very average. I used 1c pine nuts instead of walnuts, so maybe that affected things, but I had never heard of pesto with walnuts. I added a bunch of salt to bring out the flavor, but there wasn't much. Could be me, but I won't make it again.
I would have loved to give this recipe a 5 but I think the measurements may be a little off. I agree with previous people that 1 cup of oil is WAY too much. I used just under a 1/2 cup and it was plenty. I love garlic on anything and everything but if you are not a garlic fan than 4 cloves may be too much. I used 3 large cloves and it was plenty for me. Otherwise...fantasic. I drizzled it over roma tomatoes and fresh mozzarella...WOW WOW WOW
My husband never really liked pesto sauce until I made this one. I added 2 heaping teaspoons of freshly grated Romano cheese, but I think it was the walnuts that made the difference. Thanks for sharing.
Turned out great. Used pinenuts-never tried the walnuts before, might give it a try next time. Didn't have fresh basil. Probably used around a fourth of a cup of dried basil.
Very good recipe! Really easy to make, tho it did take a little while in my Magic Bullet. I only made a half recipe, and used a little more oil than called for, as well as fewer walnuts (1 cup instead of 1 cup and 2 TBSP), but it turned out really well! This is the first pesto I've made, so I can't compare it to others, but I DID have to add a LOT of salt and garlic salt to make this flavorful. Perhaps using an herbed oil would have helped? I'm not sure, but with all the extra seasoning, it tasted wonderful. B+ from me!
excellent*** i will make this again- i made this and used it on tortillini....didnt change one thing.
This was a very good base recipe. I only used 2 cloves of garlic as other reviewers suggested and thought it was sufficient. Next time I will add some fresh lemon juice.
very good and easy to make. However, next time will put only 2 or 3 cloves of garlic since the garlic taste was a bit overpowering. Thanks for the recipe.
This was okay. I wasn't thrilled, but I'll try again. Replaced walnuts with pine nuts. It was way to garlicy and I doubled the basil (maybe it's supposed to be three tightly packed cups of fresh basil) and it was passable. I'll try it again with less garlic and a lighter olive oil- I used dark and it was overpowering.
Simple, and simply delicious. I had just made a chicken soup that needed "something." I added a spoonful of this pesto to my bowl and that was IT!
Great recipe! I made one change. Just added more garlic and a bit of spinach. Fantastic!
Excellent! 4 garlic cloves is a bit much, so you may want to start with 2 and adjust to your taste. I also added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to prevent browning. This freezes very well. Great way to use up all that basil in the summer!
I love this recipe! It's delicious. I've made it with walnuts and with pine nuts, and I prefer pine nuts. I also reduce the amount of olive oil by almost a half. It's a good basic recipe, and you can play around a little with it.
The recommended recipes by SYNEVA may taste good to the North American palate but they are not recipes for authentic Pesto Genovese which must include pine nuts and parmigiano reggiano. Adding chili or cumin is a sin!! This recipe is excellent and I do use walnuts only because pine nuts are very expensive. If pine nuts were used in this recipe, it would be 100% authentic (assuming that the correct cheese is being used).
simple and delicious, even though I used almonds! I mixed half of this with 7 oz.pkg of cooked noodles, a cupful of bacon crumbles, and 3 roma tomatoes, chopped. heated through and my hubby could barely stop eating, he said delicious at least 6 times!
Simple, easy recipe. Here's a TIP: use up all your leftover basil at the end of the season to make this pesto. Spoon (trust me, don't POUR - it makes a mess!) the mixture into ice cube trays, freeze, pop out and then store the cubed pesto in a zip lock or tupperware container in the freezer. Use it all winter long and just take the cubes you need! Use the pesto to make the 'Warm Goat Cheese Sandwiches' or the 'Basil Pesto Bread' from this site - both are delicious!
I used the greens from the holly grove market, thai basil and some Asian cooking green from Mary Queen of Vietnam. I used sunflower seeds from an airport vendor and the jared garlic. Excellent flavor and the proportion is perfect. I read somewhere about puting some in an ice cube tray and freezing for later use. We'll see if that works. It made a little over 2 cups. You may want to half the recipe.
Excellent! I omitted the Nuts- Used it over Fresh Garden Tomatoes with w/ Motzarella and made Carprese! AMAZING!!!!
Excellent recipe! I doubled the recipe and froze it in ice trays for convenient serving sizes. Now we can reap the bounties of our herb garden throughout the year.
