Our towering basil plant in the back container garden lost a branch in a rainstorm prompting us to search for fresh basil pesto recipes immediately. While a lot of them use pine nuts, they don’t always agree with my system. Luckily, Andy devised a wonderful recipe substituting in walnuts instead. It was fantastic! So, if you are like me and you love the idea of a fresh Basil Pesto Recipe without pine nuts, this may be for you.
Pesto Recipe Ingredients
2 Cups freshly picked basil leaves (Note: Andy may have used a tiny bit more so that we wouldn’t waste any that came from the downed branch)
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 Cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 Cup chopped walnuts
3 Cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 Teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 Teaspoon ground black pepper
Equipment
Food processor
Pesto Recipe Steps
Step 1 Toss the walnuts into the food processor bowl and blitz until the pieces are tiny.
Step 2 Add the basil leaves and repeatedly pulse until the two ingredients are blended.
Step 3 Sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese, add the garlic cloves and pulse several times. Take a silicone or rubber spatula and scrape down the sides. Pulse again.
Note: You’ll see that the mixture is blending, but it is still a little bit rougher in texture than your final product.
Step 4 Pour in the olive oil and turn on the food processor for a steady blend. We prefer doing this when the food processor is stopped, but you can also do this carefully while the food processor is in a slow mode.
Step 5 Shake in salt and pepper. Scrape the sides again, and turn on the food processor for one more good blend. When the texture is to your preference, you are all set.
Pesto Serving Options
We love serving our homemade pesto on pasta, but we also dig it as a dip for baguettes. It’s also pretty great with things like roasted carrots or other roasted veggies. Baked potatoes are also a good pairing. If you want even more suggestions, pop over to the Food Network and check out their “25 Things to Make with Pesto” article.
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