Oh It's Delicious

A food blog with simple and delicious recipes.

Easy Homemade Basil Pesto

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Classic, simple, homemade basil pesto recipe with fresh basil leaves, walnuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and salt and pepper.

The very first time I had basil pesto, I was hooked with the flavor of it. And when I made it fresh at home, I could not believe how much better it tasted. Done deal..never ever bought store bought basil pesto. Every summer I plant basil and have so much of it on hand. I use fresh leaves in many recipes like caprese salad, caprese sandwich, pastas, panzanella and many more. Still I have so much basil left that I end up making batches of basil pesto and freeze it in small containers.

Classic, simple, homemade basil pesto recipe with fresh basil leaves, walnuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and salt and pepper.

Basil has very strong and aromatic flavor. Personally, I enjoy that flavor and always use little extra in any recipe (really.. thats me!!). But if you want to mellow the flavor of basil in the pesto, you can use handful of spinach leaves. Traditionally, pine nuts are used in this recipe but I use walnuts. I don’t see any change in the flavor and walnuts are little cheaper compared to pine nuts. I like to use little bit of lemon in my pesto as I love that hint of sourness but you can absolutely skip that. I also feel adding that squeeze of lemon keeps pesto nice and green for longer time. For making basil pesto always use Italian basil or sweet basil leaves.

Classic, simple, homemade basil pesto recipe with fresh basil leaves, walnuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and salt and pepper.

Print Recipe

Easy Homemade Basil Pesto

Cuisine: Italian
Author: Priyanka

Ingredients

  • 2-3 cups basil leaves
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup shredded parmegiano reggiano or parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts

Instructions

  • Place basil leaves, garlic and pine nuts(walnuts) in a food processor and pulse it several times.
  • Scrape down everything and add parmesan. Give couple of pulse.
  • With food processor running, slowly emulsify olive oil in slow stream. This will help keep the olive oil from separating. 
  • Stir in salt and pepper to taste.
  • To store, refrigerate in a clean airtight container or toss it fresh on hot paste.

Notes

  • Pine nuts are traditional to pesto but walnut works fine. I use walnuts as I always have them on hand.
  • Basil pesto darkens when it comes in contact with air so it is important to store it in an air tight container. That way it will remain fresh and green in color.