Pesto Sauce does not need any introductions. It is a thick basil-based sauce with added nuts and shredded delicious Parmesan cheese. Today I will share with you basic pesto recipe that has all the key ingredients included. You will learn how to make tasty pesto at home using olive oil, fresh basil, garlic with cheese and nuts of your choice.
If you cannot find pine nuts, do not worry, as you can easily substitute them for walnuts. Pesto sauce goes perfect with meat and fish in salads and, of course, pasta. Oh, I definitely need to mention that shrimps and pesto sauce is match made in heaven!
Ingredients for Easy Pesto:
- 100 g fresh basil leaves;
- 50 g Parmesan cheese, grated;
- 3 garlic cloves;
- 30 g pine nuts (or walnuts);
- 100-150 ml olive oil.
How to make basil pesto sauce at home:
- Rinse fresh basil under running cold water, separate leaves from the stem and dry them with a paper towel or in a salad spinner to remove all the excess water.
- Place following ingredients in a food processor (or a blender cup): basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic cloves.
- Add grated in advance Parmesan cheese and pour several tablespoons of olive oil. I tend to add olive oil gradually to get the consistency that I want. Besides, if you chose some other type of cheese instead of Parmesan, you may need to add extra salt to the mixture.
- Process all the ingredients. Now you can decide whether you add more oil or not.
- Kitchen pounder is your choice, if you have no blender.
- Keep made pesto sauce in a glass jar in the fridge. You can store pesto up to 5 days in the fridge and up to a month in the freezer. Enjoy!
Forgot to mention earlier but you even can use other types of cheese in the recipe. Just make sure that you use hard type of cheese in the recipe. Their sharp taste goes perfectly with nuts and basil and adds that something extra. The recipe is simple and easy to make at home, with only few ingredients.
Homemade Pesto Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 100 g fresh basil leaves
- 50 g Parmesan cheese grated
- 3 garlic cloves
- 30 g pine nuts (or walnuts)
- 100-150 ml olive oil
Instructions
- Rinse fresh basil under running cold water, separate leaves from the stem and dry them with a paper towel or in a salad spinner to remove all the excess water.
- Place following ingredients in a food processor (or a blender cup): basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic cloves.
- Add grated in advance Parmesan cheese and pour several tablespoons of olive oil. I tend to add olive oil gradually to get the consistency that I want. Besides, if you chose some other type of cheese instead of Parmesan, you may need to add extra salt to the mixture.
- Process all the ingredients. Now you can decide whether you add more oil or not.
- Kitchen pounder is your choice, if you have no blender.
- Keep made pesto sauce in a glass jar in the fridge. You can store pesto up to 5 days in the fridge and up to a month in the freezer. Enjoy!
Notes
If you liked my spin on Classic Pesto Sauce Recipe, please, share it with your friends! All the questions leave in the comment section below.
1 Comment
Hi, Julia! My pesto sauce turned out great! But I’ve been wondering how long does fresh pesto last?