1,447 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

Pesto

Pesto is an Italian sauce made from pine nuts, Parmesan and basil. It's very simple but quite delicious, and goes particularly well with pasta.

265K 2× 4.6/5 based on 24 reviews

Last modified on: July 25^th 2020

Keywords for this recipe:

For 300 g, you will need:

1 150 g pine nuts
2 1 garlic clove
3 3 bunches Basil
4 1 lemon
5 4 tablespoons olive oil
6 100 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
7 5 tablespoons olive oil
8 salt
9 pepper
10 2 g vitamin C (optional)
Total weight: 555 grams

Change these quantities to make:

100 g 150 g 300 g 600 g 900 g

Change measures:

Metric

Metric weight Metric volumes

Times for this recipe

Preparation: 10 min.

Cooking: 5 min.

All in all: 15 min.

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 5 min.

Put 150 g pine nuts in a pan without any oil. Dry roast briefly over high heat, stirring frequently.

Set aside.

Stage 2 - 5 min.

Peel 1 garlic clove, remove the green shoot and chop.

Pick the leaves off the 3 bunches Basil.

Stage 3 - 2 min.

Pour the juice of 1 lemon, zest, 4 tablespoons olive oil and 2 g vitamin C on the leaves.

Stage 4 - 1 min.

Mix to get a basil puree.

Stage 5 - 1 min.

Add pine nuts, garlic, 100 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) grated, 5 tablespoons olive oil salt and pepper...

Stage 6 - 1 min.

... and mix again until you obtain the texture of a thick puree.

Do not hesitate to adapt the quantity of olive oil, more or less, the important thing is to obtain the desired texture.

Stage 7

checking seasoning

Stage 8

Store in the fridge in a closed jar.

Remarks

In this recipe the proportions are not all that important, so you can vary them (a little more, a little less) according to your taste. If you are fond of garlic, for example, you can double the quantity indicated.

It's not absolutely necessary to roast the pine nuts, but I find that it gives the pesto a richer flavour.

If you don't have any pine nuts, you can use walnuts instead.

The basil which gives the green color tends to oxidize easily, and therefore lose this beautiful color. To keep it better, add, before blending, the vitamin c.

Keeping: Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.

Source: Home made.

Nutritional information

	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	60 20 %	40 4 %	250 40 %	2,700 140 %	11,310 140 %
Per 100 g	10 4 %	7 1 %	50 7 %	490 20 %	2,040 20 %

The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man

Possible allergens in this recipe: Milk

How much will it cost?

For 300 g : 13.13 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

Some other recipes using this recipeSee them all 13

Thin cherry tomato and pesto tart

A tomato tart is a real taste of summer: this one uses cherry tomatoes, finished with a drizzle of pesto after cooking. Cherry tomatoes are an ideal way to add a variety of colours for a tart that looks just as good as it tastes.
31K 1 hour 1 min.

Spinach and Mushrooms with Pesto

For this simple recipe, thinly sliced and sautéed mushrooms, accompanied by cooked spinach, are combined with a pesto sauce.
11K 17 min.

Genoese croque-monsieur

Here is an Italian version of the famous French toasted sandwich: a croque-monsieur from Genoa. The two slices of fried bread hold together scrambled egg, pesto and grated Parmesan.
57K 24 min.

Seb's Italian-style aperitif slices

These Italian-inspired snacks are ideal for a light supper or with an aperitif: a thin slice of bread spread with pesto, sliced potatos, hard-boiled egg and a generous sliver of Parmesan. Pop them in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese.
21K 49 min.

Pasta with pesto and preserved tomatoes

In this recipe, the pasta (whatever kind you prefer) is served with shreds of fried ham and chopped preserved tomatoes as well as a good dollop of pesto.
52K3.8 23 min.

This recipe uses (among others)

Other recipes you may also like

Chestnut cake

This delightful cake is doubly chestnutty: it contains chestnut flour, and sweet chestnut purée.
May 8^th 2020327K5 1 hour 13 min.

Vanilla sugar

Almost essential in patisserie, you can find it in expensive little sachets of about 10g. It's necessary to distinguish between the vanilla sugar which really contains vanilla, and vanillin sugar, purely chemical which has never seen a vanilla pod. Here is how to quickly make a whole jar full of...
August 12^th 2018410K 15 26 min.

Caramelised walnuts

These delicious nuts can be used in several cakes, but you can also put them on ice-cream, pancakes, fruit salad, or eat them just as they are.
February 21^th 2011361K5 22 min.

Tomato ladybirds

Tomatoes filled with a tuna mayonnaise and rice mixture, in a fun ladybird shape that kids will love, served with a puree of fresh garden peas. A good way to encourage them to eat vegetables.
February 21^th 2011270K 14 1 hour 47 min.

Morteau sausage rolled brioche

Here is a quite sophisticated take on a Morteau sausage brioche. The sausage is first cooked in the oven, then rolled up in a brioche dough with metton cancoillotte before being left to rise. After baking, it is served sliced with a Vin Jaune cream sauce.
September 16^th 202431K 3 hours 15 min.

News list of cooking-ez.com

Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.

The 2 comments already posted on this recipe

Very good idea for my next pasta party at home. Grazie Mille !
Posted by jh november 20^th 2010 at 15:22 n° 2
I love the old classics!As a serving I agree with you: plain pasta is the best.If you want to try something easy and different, add pesto to a normal tomato souce and you have "sugo pasticciato". In that case I would probably not put the lemon.Buon Appetito!http://gemma-olivia.blogspot.com/
Posted by marcovasce november 15^th 2010 at 13:38 n° 1

Follow this recipe

If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.

Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.

Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.