The Best Basic Pesto
Total Time
15 Minutes
Prep Time
15 Minutes
Rating
5 out of 5 stars
(293)
Ingredients
10 servings
- ⅓ cup walnuts
- 2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
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Preparation
Step 1
Place the walnuts and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until coarsely chopped, about 10 seconds.
Step 2
Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper and process until mixture resembles a paste, about 1 minute.
Step 3
With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly blended.
Step 4
Add the Parmesan and process a minute more.
Step 5
Use pesto immediately or store in a tightly sealed jar or air-tight plastic container, covered with a thin layer of olive oil (this seals out the air and prevents the pesto from oxidizing, which would turn it an ugly brown color). It will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.
Step 6
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Chef's notes
Freezer-Friendly Instructions:
Pesto can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 6 months. You can also divide your prepared pesto into the compartments of an ice cube tray and freeze. Once it’s frozen, remove the pesto cubes from the tray and put in a sealable plastic bag or airtight container. You can add the defrosted pesto cubes to soups, pasta dishes, eggs, sandwiches, and potatoes.
For the nuts, I use walnuts instead of the more traditional pine nuts for a few reasons:
First, I always seem to have walnuts in the house (pine nuts can be very pricey). Second, in recent years, an increasing number of people, including me, have fallen prey to a bizarre problem with pine nuts called Pine Mouth Syndrome, a bitter, metallic taste in the mouth that develops a day or two after eating pine nuts.
