Basic Pesto
Updated April 4, 2024
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
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Ingredients
Yield:2 cups
- 2cups fresh basil leaves (no stems)
- 2tablespoons pine nuts (or walnuts)
- 2large cloves garlic
- ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½cup freshly grated Parmesan
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (16 servings)
87 calories; 9 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 55 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Combine basil leaves, pine nuts (or walnuts) and garlic in a food processor and process until very finely minced.
- Step 2
With the machine running, slowly dribble in the oil and process until the mixture is smooth.
- Step 3
Add the cheese and process very briefly, just long enough to combine. Store in refrigerator or freezer.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
RECMSOJ
Dying to try this - I make a poor man's pesto every time my kids want pasta with tomato sauce, but want the real thing. Never used fresh basil, so how do you measure 2 cups? Is it packed down in the cup, or fluffy, or how do you judge?
Andrea
Well.... just this is just the very essential recipe but pesto is more complex . In Liguria near Genova where pesto is originally coming from the recipe add two main components : small round boiled potato and long green beans , the potato will give consistency the green long beans will take down the pungent flavor of basil rounding the chlorophyle on a melting flavor of grass . Cheese , only pecorino not any cheese and not "pecorino romano" , just "sweet" seasoned pecorino ...
Sara F
I hesitate to suggest that this perfect pesto could be improved, but it is even better with a pinch of kosher salt and a little lemon juice.
Steven B.
Weigh the basil. America's Test Kitchen (in their Cook's Country magazine) did a taste test with the various amounts of basil that people measure as 1 cup. The result was that using 18.7 grams as 1 cup of basil leaves was preferred. This means that for this recipe you will want to use 37.4 (round up to 38 or even 40) grams of basil leaves.
MJ
I don't freeze it with the cheese in it. I wait to add it before I use it. Since there are just the two of us, I use the snack size bags to freeze the pesto in. After I fill the bags I lay them flat in the freezer and stack them... Saves so much room.
Brad
Pretty good, not quite Ligurian!
Recommend:
1) toast the pine nuts! I used 1/4 cup
2) roast / toast the garlic. I used 1 large clove
3) if using for spread, 1/4 cup evoo should be fine; if using for sauce 1/2 cup evoo
4) I added 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
edzed
When I make pesto for the freezer at the end of the basil season, I leave out the garlic, cheese, and freshly ground pepper.
That way, when I thaw the pesto out in the middle of winter, I add the fresh garlic, pepper and cheese and it just tastes much fresher than if the pesto is completely made before freezing. I has worked well for me.
Barbara Wheeler
For some reason it's not on this site, but I've always used Tom Colicchio's recipe for pesto (co-authored with F. Fabricant, published in the Times). He blanches the garlic (removes the bite) and then the basil leaves, which he shocks in ice water. A bit more work, but the bright resulting color--basil green rather than army green--is really nice. I also second the suggestions below: freeze without the cheese. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/15/dining/the-chef-tom-colicchio.html
David Look
From Florence: Packed but not compressed is a good description. Measurements on the basil do not have to be 100 percent exact.
Osama
A note of caution on the pine nuts. Some pine nuts leave a metallic taste in the mouth that can last or days. Look up "pine mouth". The FDA suggests using only fresh pine nuts and toasting them before adding.
Eddie Lew
Ever since I came across pesto many years ago, I thought it is one of the most inspiring, magical blend of a few ingredients (the essence of Italian cooking). Fresh basil, garlic, Parmesan, salt and pepper, and the reason I'm writing, TOASTED pine nuts. Toasting adds that magic something to the blend that I can't describe in words. Walnuts? Too assertive (I love them, but...). Hint: I serve it with bow tie pasta, they hold just the right amount of the pesto in their little grooves.
Laura
Best tip: blanch basil FIRST. Then plunge into ice water. This technique guarantees FRESH GREEN COLOR no matter what and still retains fresh flavor. Promise!
WJ
Just made 6 batches!!!
This is a great base but highly recommend adding:
-Salt (just a pinch to taste)
-tiny amount of fresh squeezed lemon juice (not so much that you taste lemon but the acid really brings out the basil flavor: I used less than 1 lemon for all 6 batches)
-lightly toasting the pine nuts (lowest temp your oven allows check at 5min, 7min 10min) they are very delicate, easy to burn and expensive so it is probably why most people skip but I think its worth it! :)
Nicole
There is no such thing as too much garlic
Stefano
Pesto with walnuts? Nah. In Genova we have a few jokes about it ("no thanks, I'm not a squirrel"). Just stick with pine nuts, the result is immensely superior. And, cheese-wise, parmesan is OK, 50% parmesan 50% pecorino is heaven.
Speaking about walnuts, there is a great, walnut-based pasta sauce also from Genova (salsa di noci) which, like pesto, requires no cooking and is really really good.
Patricia A Dorner
Measure two cups by cutting off the basil leaves from fresh basil (no stems) and packing them in a measuring cup. Or weigh as per the following comments. To keep the pesto green, blanch the leaves in soft boiling water for about 30-45 seconds before draining and processing. I add the garlic and the cheese with only half the olive oil, then process and freeze as a paste. I add Pine nuts and more oil after thawing. Also - even if you love garlic, don't add more than called for!
Rose K.
Freeze pesto in muffin tins, then store the frozen disks in ziplok bags.
Paola Repetto
As a Genoese, who was practically weaned on basil pesto, I would suggest to process cheese, nuts (whichever you choose) and garlic first, adding basil after the other ingredients are already minced. This, because basil obsidates very easily, therefore becoming darker and also losing some of its flavour.
Jared
My pesto always turns brown. I haven’t found a way to stop it from oxidizing so quickly.
Coach Kev Montepulciano
Uhh, sorry to "ruin ur day" but I just got back from Cinqueterra and we made pesto almost EXACTLY as this recipe.. Adding POTATOES? GREEN BEANS?? Nonna Gina would have a heart attack! You MUST add a PINCH of salt and you MUST use a MORTAR AND PESTAL!! I almost got slapped around by the old women for suggesting a bit of Pepe y Lemon...Got away from there with my life and REMARKABLE pesto.. Potato and green beans? SERIOUSLY??
Lisa
I just wish to express how appreciative I am of the NYT cooking community. All of the ideas, helpful hints, eccentricities. It's a wonderful forum in a wacky world. Thanks everyone. I am grateful to be a cook among cooks!
Sedro
Filberts are a good (and very Pacific Northwest, outside of their hometown redubbed as "hazelnuts") substitution for pine nuts or walnuts. They give the pesto a deeper and more earthy character, especially when slightly toasted beforehand. They balance the overpowering parmesan cheese.
Peter
After years of making pesto, I've stopped using pine nuts. They're expensive and I can't tell the difference without them. Although sometimes I've sprinkled toasted pine nuts once the sauce is combined with the pasta.
Beth
The pesto I learned to make in Florence in 1978 has parsley as well as basil. Probably 3/4 basil and 1/4 parsley. And I always use walnuts since I know they aren’t from China.
PMF
The pesto will be very bland if you don't add a sprinkle of salt.
Mardale Bee
I prefer a blender to the food processor. Stop frequently to push down the ingredients. Yes, the 2 cups of basil should be packed. If you are uncertain about your pine nuts, pumpkin seeds make an acceptable substitute. Per Marcella Hazan, I go for 2 to 1 ratio of parm to romano, but unlike her, I include the cheese but not the garlic for freezing. Press the garlic into the dish with the defrosted pesto (you can add a small amount of butter), then add a tablespoon of water from the boiling pasta.
Leslie
For years I have used James Beard's recipe. It calls for four cups of basil, half a cup of flat leaf parsley, three cloves garlic, a teaspoon salt, half a cup of nuts, half a cup of Parmesan. Always excellent. I don't see the point of blanching. Just put a thin layer of olive oil over the top of it in the container and it will stay green.
Daniel Kellison
Don't be afraid to use walnuts! I like them even better! A little earthier. But both my sons who will pick out the smallest speck of green from any sauce and then refuse to eat the food? They devour and request this pesto (with peas 😘)
JDM
Perfect as is Top jar with enough olive oil to cover the top of pesto, to kep from going brown. WOrks!
John
My pesto recipe is very similar—except that I add 1 tsp salt and 3 Tbs of softened butter after all the other ingredients and run the blender until completely smooth. The butter makes it a very smooth pesto sauce.
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