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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.

180,570 24.6/5 for 22 ratings

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Last modified on: May 12^th 2017

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 Parmigiano reggiano (Parmesan)
7 5 tablespoons olive oil
8 salt
9 pepper
10 4 pinches vitamin C (optional)
Total weight: 555 grams

Change those ingredients for: 100 g 150 g 300 g 600 g 900 g

Change measures: Metric

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How long does it take?

Time required for this recipe:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
17 min.	5 min.	22 min.

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

At what time?

When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?

Work this out...

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 - 10 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 and 4 tablespoons olive oil in a blender (always the liquid part in first), then add pine nuts, garlic, basil, 100 g Parmigiano reggiano (Parmesan) grated, salt and pepper.

Stage 4 - 5 min.

Blend, adding a thin stream of olive oil gradually until it produces a fairly thick paste, something like the consistency of jam.

Your pesto is ready. If you are not going to use it right away, put it in a sealed jar in the fridge, where it will keep for several days.

Stage 5

Appreciate pesto at its best on plain pasta, with a few shavings of Parmesan: a pure delight.

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.

Nutritional information

Whole recipe
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
2,701 Kcal or 11,309 Kj	63 gr	44 gr	253 gr
135 %	24 %	4 %	38 %

Per 100 g
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
487 Kcal or 2,039 Kj	11 gr	8 gr	46 gr
24 %	4 %	1 %	7 %

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

How much will it cost?

For 300 g : 13.13 €

Note : These prices are only approximate

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Source

Home made.

More recipes?

This recipe uses (among others)

	Pine nuts: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Spinach and ricotta ravioli, Crunchy salad, ... All
	Parmigiano reggiano (Parmesan): You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Tomato foccacia, Pea risotto "mantecare", Coriander and cashew nut pesto, Scallops with green asparagus tips and parmesan, Raw beetroot salad, ... All
	Olive oil: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Preserved lemons, Beef braised in reduced red wine, Scallop and leek pancakes, Bolognaise lasagne, Beurre d'escargot, ... All
	Basil: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Quick flaky pizza, Pan bagnat, Salmon and spinach quiche, Fine multi-tomato tart, Sushi, ... All

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Your 2 comments or questions 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)

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