pesto sauce

Pesto sauce comes together in 10 minutes with fresh basil, olive oil, and real parmesan. So much brighter and fresher than anything from a jar.

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Total Time 11

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Calories: 330

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

pesto sauce

2 cups fresh basil leaves packed, washed and dried
0.5 cup parmesan cheese freshly grated (avoid the pre-shredded stuff)
0.33 cup extra-virgin olive oil
0.25 cup pine nuts can swap for walnuts or cashews
2 cloves garlic peeled
0.25 teaspoon salt
0.25 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground is best

Method

Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 2–3 minutes. Pull them off the heat as soon as you see golden spots. Don’t let them burn—they turn bitter fast.
Add the toasted pine nuts, garlic, and salt to a food processor. Pulse a few times until they’re roughly chopped.
Add the basil leaves and give it several more pulses. Don’t run the machine too long, or the basil can go dark.
Add the parmesan cheese and black pepper. Pulse again—just to combine.
With the machine running, slowly stream in the olive oil. Stop and scrape down the sides once to make sure you don’t end up with dry corners. Run until you see a rough but spreadable sauce. If you want it thinner, I sometimes add 1–2 tablespoons water.
Taste and adjust the salt. I always add half the salt first, blend, then taste again to decide if it needs another pinch—it depends how salty your cheese is.
Transfer the pesto to a jar or bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap right onto the surface if you’re storing it—this keeps it bright green.

Notes

I always end up making pesto when basil starts taking over my balcony. It’s about as close as you can get to summer in a jar, and nobody at my house complains when pasta night means pesto night.

What actually makes good pesto

Grate your own parmesan. I know, it’s tempting to grab the pre-shredded kind, but it never blends as smoothly and it’s less flavorful. You don’t need a fancy microplane—a box grater works fine.

Don’t skip toasting the nuts. Nuts straight from the bag taste flat, but letting them take on a little color in the pan brings out way more flavor. I take them off the heat as soon as a few start to brown—no lingering, or they go from golden to scorched in a blink.

Let the food processor do just enough work. If you run it too long, everything turns gummy. I pulse the basil in by hand; it stays bright and gives a more rustic texture that clings to pasta better.

Swaps and tricks from my kitchen

No pine nuts? Use walnuts or cashews—sliced almonds even work. Sunflower seeds get mushy and grassy; I don’t love them here.

If you need a nut-free version (I have a cousin with allergies), pumpkin seeds actually work in a pinch. Just toast extra well to bring out the flavor.

Storage notes

Pesto oxidizes fast. Press plastic wrap right on the surface before refrigerating, or drizzle a thin layer of olive oil on top. It’ll hold its green for a couple days like this.

If I have leftover, I spoon it into an ice cube tray and freeze. Those cubes go straight into hot pasta—or thinned as a salad dressing—whenever basil season feels far away.