Proper Pesto

I have made pesto plenty of times using my Vitamix machine and I thought it was pretty good. Little did I realize how unprepared I was for the burst of flavor that hit my mouth when I tasted this ground pesto sauce. It has been an hour since I ate it and I still have the full taste of the pesto in the back of my throat! This is THE only way I will ever prepare pesto sauce for my family. Thank you Chef John for introducing us to this revolutionary technique. It almost makes me want to use my mortar and pestle on just about anything...

RIDICULOUS!!! This was ridiculously good!! First time I've ever made pesto and won't make it any other way!! OMG! My 13 year old and husband gave it a "10" (we rate all of my food). I understand that the secret to this amazing recipe is doing it a mortar & pestle. If you do nothing else in the mortar, at the very least add the oil and incorporate it this way as oils tend to get bitter when whipped in a Vitamix or other blender/processer. This is one of the (many) keys to why this is so amazing. Use all of the freshest ingredients available and you'll have yourself some RAVE reviews! I only wish I had a huge mortar!! This was gone in one night with three people eating it. It is amazing on fresh, toasted (wood-grilled preferably) buttered sourdough bread as an appetizer, too! DON'T heat it as it will ruin it. Just mix it into hot pasta or serve on buttered bread. Indulgent!! LOVE!!

Got a mortar & pestle just to try this with summer's bounty of basil. Outstanding! After my first batch I watched the video and it gave me a better idea of the technique. Thanks Chef John.

Let me tell you that I did not want to love this recipe. I love an easy food processor recipe, so I hoped the hard(ish) work wouldn’t actually be worth it. But THIS...this recipe is worth it. It’s so good. Just try it. I bought a mortar and pestle at tjmaxx for about $12. My tip is to fold a kitchen towel and place it under the bottom so that it doesn’t bang as loud. And let the tool work for you, you don’t have to put a lot of force into it or your hand will start to cramp. Then buy 2 baguettes and enjoy your life.

Really delicious!! So fresh!! Excellent summer dish to beat the heat.

It's really tasty. I used my usual olive oil, but I think I will try to find a mild version next time. I wish I knew more about mortar and pestles. I have one with a rough interior as Chef John suggests, but mine seems smaller than the one Chef John was using. I had a hard time getting all the ingredients in mine.

Wow. This was a revelation. I made half a batch because I was alone and my mortar and pestle is small; there was already a fair amount of cursing as I went about making this. It’s really not that much work, even if it feels like it at first; I was surprised at how quickly the basil leaves were pulverized. I ended up putting the garlic through a garlic press into the mortar, because I wasn’t having much success pounding it into a paste. The variety of basil I had might have been spicier than the Genovese type I’m used to--this pesto was SO sharp, and so fragrant! I even pulled the green sprouts from inside the cloves of garlic to keep it from being overpowering. I only used about 1/2 ounce Parmesan and 2 Tbsp olive oil for my half batch; my cup nearly runneth over. I put a few tablespoons of my amazing pesto on penne pasta and inhaled it. I need bigger and better equipment because I want to eat this stuff all summer long.

May not have ground to a paste as in video, or used the correct cheese, but I loved not using my tiny food processor. No electricity? Make pesto! Taste is wonderful, can't wait to have it on bread!

We made this the other night, it was amazing!! My first pesto ever and I'm sold, we can handle the truth.

Best. Pesto. Ever. We made it again. IMO, pesto is one of the best things about summer.

R EEEE DICULOUS !!!! Wow! Follow this recipe and you'll fall off your chair. Definitely takes some elbow grease, but if you grow your own Basil this is a go too recipe for when you have too much and need to prune the plant back. Thank you Chef John!

Wow! Fantastic. It took some time pounding in the ingredients, but Chef John is right. It is absolutely worth it! I took a piece of bread to clean out the mortar bowl. Did not want to waste a drop. This is the first time I made pesto.

I used a combination of almonds and pistachios.

Really reliable recipe. I use basil as the herb since I have a ton of it in the garden. Tip: if you want that incredibly bright green color, you have to use it right away. It actually does not keep the color although the flavor remains for up to 3 days (turns more brown).

This is the only way to make pesto. It's not often that I'm truly amazed by my own cooking, but using my mortar and pestle was worth every bit of effort. And the wife loved it too. Crushing everything together makes this magical combination of flavours.

Awesome! Awesome! AWESOME!!

First Pesto I've ever made. Incredibly delicious, fragrant. The garlic does have a strong bite, and a few people were turned off by it. Highly recommend.

This was a simple recipe that tastes great. I was able to divide the amount into small jars and freeze what I didn't need.

Any recipe that lets me bust out my mortar and pestle is a win in my books! I just bought a tube of basil paste as it was cheaper, and it still ended up being delicious. A word of warning though, make sure your mortar is big enough to fit all of the ingredients. Mine wasn't, so I had to prepare everything in batches.

Made it, no changes necessary, freaking amazing! Thank you Chef John!!

Chef John was right, the pestle did make all the difference in flavor. Still, I did make the mistake of using too much sea salt in the pestle as the final product...though flavorful, was much saltier than I would have liked. Basil seemed to take forever to grind up without more though. Guess I will just have to be more patient and perhaps reevaluate my olive oil. Used Bertolli as that is what I had on hand. Still loved it and will replace the store-bought pesto I used to get with this method.

Made with homegrown basil. I used three kinds: lemon basil, Genovese, and purple. It was delicious. Will use it on salmon tonight, but for now, had some on crackers (and some on fingers!) because I could not resist!

This is delicious. I put it on top of a slice of mozzarella on top of a slice of tomato I grew in my garden. The mortar and pestle are good exercise.

This was my first time ever making pesto, and my first time with a mortar and pestle. The flavor of this pesto is incredible. Well worth the extra effort and time! This is definitely one of my new favorite meals to make. Paired it with some pasta and grilled chicken.

Excellent with chicken. Pre make it and freeze.

So delicious!! The only way pesto should be made!

I don't have a mortal & pestle large enough for this so I used my vitamix. Added a pinch of black pepper. Both hubbs and I loved it! Yum! Thanks!!

I used Pecorino Romano Cheese...Basil from my garden and I may have over- toasted the nuts, but just a bit. The flavor is amazing!!

Excellent. I Had to make mine with the food processor as I couldn't find my mortar and pestle. I made the recipe exactly otherwise and it was excellent

need at least 2 cups of basil. I used 2 small cloves of garlic and only 1oz. of cheese

Excellent, excellent, excellent recipe. Made pesto for the first time, using basil from my own garden (first time growing it!). Turned out great.

Love this!

Excellent! Crushing makes a big difference. I'm a big garlic fan so I used 5 cloves. I let it rest for 2 hours in the refrigerator after making also. Thanks, John, I use a lot of your recipes!

Best pesto ever. Well worth the time needed to gradually grind each ingredient into the mixture. I used the entire batch with farfalle pasta and diced avocado.

This is a delicious pesto recipe. I didn't have any pinenuts so I substituted walnuts and it turned out wonderful!

Waiting to hear on family’s opinion but I like it. Ideal way to use basil from the garden. I did use almonds as suggested in place of pine nuts

So fresh and so tasty !

This is the best pesto recipe I have made......Love the texture and the balance of flavors.

This is a great recipe. I use it often to use up the basil from my aero garden- the more basil the better IMO. I didn't have pine nuts on hand so I used cashews. Also had to add a bit of water to get it blending. Absolutely delicious!

I'm a newbie at making (even eating!) pesto, but I won't be for long. This incredibly fresh and aromatic recipe is a winner for me! I'm glad I bought a live basil plant for this recipe when the prepared bunches cost twice as much. It made the taste burst to life. Loved it!

I have made this recipe a number of times and love it. Since I grow Genovese basil in my basement, I always have a lot of fresh basil available, and usually double or quadruple the recipe. Since I make large quantities, I make this pesto in my 16 cup food processor. To do this, I put the pine nuts, salt, and garlic cloves in the processor, pulse 4-5 times, add add the shredded cheese, pulse a couple more times, add 1/2 the oil, pulse a couple more times, add 1/2 the basil leaves and the rest of the oil, pulse a couple more time, add the rest of the basil, and pulse 3-4 times until everything is integrated. By weight, a large bunch of basil is 1.4 ounces for just leaves and 2.5 ounces for leaves and stems. I have been using just the leaves. Making the pesto with this method is so very good, I don't see how crushing everything manually could make it any better. I use this pesto mixed in pasta and have also used a lot of it in recipes. We love it, so I keep a stock of it in my freezer. It freezes very well.

Bought one in the store but didn’t care for it. I had tons of basil this summer, too much for my Asian cooking and wanted to try this. Oh my God, it’s phenomenal. Eat it with my grilled salmon and it beats my asian hot sauce…..

Now that is pesto! Wow the flavor is right on, strong and pungent . I made it as instructed , didn’t get all the basil perfectly smashed and the pine nuts as well but I love it ! Thanks chef John ...again!!

Labour intestine but SO WORTH IT! Didn't change a thing. It has a very intense flavour, which I love. I can't buy pre-made jarred pesto ever again.

Love this recipe,Quick and easy to make. My go to pesto

Pretty good recipe! I roasted both the pine nuts and garlic before mashing. I also used nutritional yeast instead of cheese since I'm dairy-free and added salt and pepper to taste. I used this recipe to make pesto for stuffed challah and used only 1/2 the oil called for so it would be easier to stuff in the dough - it worked perfectly! I'll never make pesto in a food processor again - mortar and pestle all the way!!

Fabulous flavor - seriously the best pesto ever! I’m so glad I made it this way.

A lot of work, but an excellent pesto.

I made this twice now. I prefer it with avocado oil for flavor. My tastes buds are sensitive to the sharpness of some olive oils. I also add zest of one lemon per batch as well as black pepper. Next time I will remember that my pound of basil should make three to four batches. The basil taste is too strong at higher basil amounts. Overall excellent recipe. This freezes quite well so you can use a spoonful at a time to add to sauces and stews, etc

WOW best pesto I’ve ever eaten! You HAVE to use the mortar and pestle, it changes everything about the flavor! We love every Chef John recipe we’ve tried!