Pesto


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.
257K 2 24 4.6
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Last modified on: July 25th 2020

Keywords for this recipe:
For 900 g, you will need:

Change these quantities to make: 100 g 150 g 300 g 600 g 900 g
How long does it take?
Time required for this recipe:
PreparationCookingStart to finish
10 min.5 min.15 min.

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 5 min.
Pesto
Put 450 g pine nuts in a pan without any oil. Dry roast briefly over high heat, stirring frequently.

Set aside.

Stage 2 - 5 min.
Pesto
Peel 3 cloves garlic, remove the green shoot and chop.

Pick the leaves off the 9 bunches basil.

Stage 3 - 2 min.
Pesto
Pour the juice of 3 lemons, zest, 12 tablespoons olive oil and 6 g vitamin C on the leaves.

Stage 4 - 1 min.
Pesto
Mix to get a basil puree.

Stage 5 - 1 min.
Pesto
Add pine nuts, garlic, 300 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) grated, 15 tablespoons olive oil salt and pepper...

Stage 6 - 1 min.
Pesto
... 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 8
Pesto
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
Whole recipe
Energetic valueProteins CarbohydratesFats
8,103 Kcal or 33,926 Kj188 gr131 gr759 gr
405 %72 %12 %115 %
Per 100 g
Energetic valueProteins CarbohydratesFats
487 Kcal or 2,039 Kj11 gr8 gr46 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).
Possible allergens in this recipe: Milk
How much will it cost?
  • For 900 g : 39.38 €

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

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See all recipes that use it
This recipe uses (among others)
Pine nutsPine nuts: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Purple Pesto, Kalamata Salad, Spinach and ricotta ravioli, Crunchy salad, Greek-style stuffed courgettes, ... All
Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano): You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Roast cabbage with lemon, Brussels sprout salad, Carrot-top pesto, Crispy rolls with chicken and leek, Penne with purple artichokes, ... All
Olive oilOlive oil: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Polenta, Tomato pesto, Tapenade, Rice à la grecque, Langoustine and leek tarts, ... All
BasilBasil: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Tomato pesto, Zucchini and tomato remoulade, Sushi, Fine multi-tomato tart, Canapés of red mullet with poppy seeds, ... 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 20th 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 15th 2010 at 13:38 (n° 1)
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