Easy Peasy Pesto Recipe
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I just LOOOOVE pesto! I think it transforms home-food or simple snack to home-gourmet or fancy snack :) Our fridge is not complete without milk, eggs, cheese (at least one type) and a jar of pesto (any kind - fennel or basil or whatever).
I always use this one simple recipe that has been proven to please everyone every single time - be it as a stand alone sauce or mixed, as dipping sauce or spread or in cooking!
Simple to prepare, short list of ingredient, fully customizable. For example:
Nuts: in place of pine, use walnut, pistachio (my fave!), pecans, cashew, etc. Note: roasting the nuts add more “umph” to the taste. Basically it brings out the nuttiness :)
Cheese: subs for vegan cheese and add nutritional yeast.
Garlic: go full vampire proof and add more if desired. Note: roasted garlic adds another level of flavor.
Olive Oil: I like to use regular, as EVOO has a distinct flavor. But, to each their own. Add more oil during the making for a runnier pesto. Personally I like the thick consistency for storing purpose.
The video shows fennel fronds as the leaves, but you can use the traditional basil leaves.
“In Italian, pesto means: “to crush”.
The name is the past participle of the Genoese verb pestâ (Italian: pestare), which means “to pound”, “to crush”, in reference to the original method of preparation: according to tradition, the ingredients are “crushed” or ground in a marble mortar through a circular motion of a wooden pestle.”
BASIC PESTO RECIPE
Making time: 5 minutes
Prep time: 15 minutes (mainly washing the leaves)
You will need a food processor or blender to mix the ingredients (unless you go traditional, using mortar and pestle - which then takes longer than 5 minutes to make this)
INGREDIENTS
2 cup Basil Leaves
1/3 cup Pine Nuts
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
3 cloves Garlic
1 tbs Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Salt
2/3 cup Olive Oil
Except Olive Oil, put all ingredients in the food processor.
Pulse several time to mix, then run the food processor continuously, while pouring the olive oil slowly from the opening at the top lid.
After the oil is poured, pause the food processor to scrape the side, check the consistency of the pesto, then run it again for 15 more seconds or until all ingredients are blended through - at this point, you can add more oil if desired.
Store the pesto in a clean jar. Add a layer of olive oil on top before closing the lid. Refrigerate.
Notes:
Pesto can be stored frozen in mason jars for a year.
If using blender, the put everything in, then blend at lower speed. Too high of the speed will incorporate too much air into the pesto and oxidize it faster.
I prefer to use a food processor. My favorite is what Mom has been using for decades and never fail to help her make amazing things in the kitchen: Cuisineart classic food processor. It is not a paid endorsement, though if you purchase through the link provided, I get a commission from Amazon at no extra cost to you.
Though for small batch, I use the newer mini version of it: Miniprep food processor.
Isn’t that cute?? I am thinking about using it in future pesto making class. What do you think? :)
Made it? Share it!
If you make this recipe, please post on social media and tag me on Instagram (@blissful_growing) or Facebook (Blissful Growing). I would like to know what you think.
Thanks for reading, enjoy the pesto and please share :D
Catharina ‘Kat’ is a Gardenary Certified Kitchen Garden Consultant serving the greater Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley Areas.
YouTube channel: Husbandtofeed
Long before gardening, Kat started an Instagram account called @husbandtofeed as a channel to chronicle her passion in food and cooking. Kat would say that, husbandtofeed is the motor behind Blissful Growing as everything she does stem from her homelife.
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