Homemade Pesto

Pesto is such an easy go-to ‘no cook’ sauce that only takes a few minutes to make and can go a long way. I love to use a little pesto in many recipes, just the elevate the flavour. There are also tons of variations that you can make from sun-dried tomatoes to mint, to kale & parsley, and even beets.

If you’ve never tried making your own pesto, it is so much easier than you might think. The only downside of it is that it can be one of those things that are cheaper to buy than the make at home. The way I look at it though is that at least it’s not sitting on a store shelf… in a jar of oil…with added vinegar or acetic acid… for months. A fresh batch of pesto will only last a few days in the fridge before it starts growing mold, so that goes to show how many extra preservatives go into the store-bought brands.

TIP: If you want to avoid having your pesto go bad, freeze it! You can fill an ice cube tray and pop them out when you need some and add them to soups or toss in a pot of pasta and cooked shrimp.

So essentially, what is pesto? Pesto is a sauce that originates from Genoa (Italy) and has just a handful of ingredients. The traditional preparation consists of crushed garlic, pine nuts, salt, fresh basil, Parmesan cheese and olive oil. Pine nuts are sometimes harder to find and can be pricey so I have tired using walnuts, pecans or cashews and have had fantastic results. If you want to go dairy free, you can also use nutritional yeast instead of cheese.

To make it, it is as simple as combining everything in a food processor until smooth. If you want to go more rustic, try hand chopping all the individual ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 cups of fresh basil

1/4 of pine nuts

3 garlic cloves

1/3 cup of good quality olive oil

2/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Add basil, pine nuts, garlic and cheese in the food processor until desired texture. Then add olive oil and run again until combined.

It’s as simple as that!

Try tossing a few tablespoons of pesto with garlic shrimp and pasta for an easy weeknight meal. It also makes a tasty base for a pizza instead of a tomato sauce.