Homemade Basil Pesto is super easy and super quick. You’ll love the freshness of the herbs, the aromatic flavors from the nuts, and the depth of flavor added from the freshly grated Parmesan.
The secret to making the perfect Homemade Basil Pesto is to roast the nuts (to deepen the nutty flavors) and blend the basil at the end (to avoid bruising the fresh basil leaves because you want them to be vibrant green). Using a food processor is also essential, although a mortar and pestle works well too.
Our favorite way to enjoy Homemade Basil Pesto is with any kind of pasta (spaghetti and farfalle being our top 2 favorites). Just make sure to reserve some pasta water because pasta water is the key ingredient that turns pesto into a creamy glossy pesto sauce.
Here is a link to our favorite pesto pasta! Click here: Pesto Pasta
Homemade Basil Pesto
You'll love the freshness of the basil, the deep aromatic nutty flavor and the creamy salty Parmesan in this Homemade Basil Pesto.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cups (65g) pinenuts, toasted
- 1/2 cups (65g) walnuts, roasted
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced (4 tablespoons juice)
- 1 cup (110g) freshly grated Parmesan
- 4 cups (60g) fresh basil
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 375 F / 190 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place walnuts in a single layer. When oven is heated roast the walnuts until they are just roasted and aromatic (about 5-10 minutes). Take out of oven and roughly chop. Set it aside to cool completely.
- Step 2 Meanwhile heat a skillet to medium-low heat. Toast the pine nuts until lightly golden brown (you can smell it’s nutty flavor deepening). Transfer to a separate plate and let it cool completely.
- Step 3 Once the walnuts and pine nuts are completely cool add them to a food processor. Add also the smashed garlic, salt, black pepper, lemon zest and lemon juice. Pulse a few times until it forms a paste.
- Step 4 Add freshly grated Parmesan and pulse a few times.
- Step 5 Add (roughly chopped) fresh basil. Pulse a few times.
- Step 6 Press áuto’ function on your food processor and slowly stream in the olive oil. Doing this slowly helps emulsify and keep the olive oil from separating.
- Step 7 You can use your homemade basil pesto immediately. To store leftover pesto, smooth the surface, cover with a thin layer of olive oil, wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days.