Give your food a healthy kick with a dab of this homemade pesto. It’s even vegan friendly!
Before an Italian nonna hounds me with the intention of clobbering me with the handle of her pasta roller, I’d freely admit this isn’t an authentic pesto recipe. The latter would contain pine nuts instead of pistachios and if you check out the recipe below, you’ll notice that parmesan cheese is missing. Vegans use nutritional yeast instead of cheese. It still tastes fabulous though!
Preparing pesto is a doddle. Simply place all the ingredients in a food processor
Apparently, there is a difference in taste depending on which method you use. The traditional way is with pestle and mortar and if you have the time give it a go. For those of us who are rushed off our feet on a daily basis, modern day machinery will just have to do.
Embarrassingly, I’ve let fresh herbs go to waste more than I can count. It’s a shame because it needn’t be the case. It takes five minutes to make a batch of pesto and do you want to know a little secret? You can freeze the stuff. In this case I froze little portions in an ice tray and afterwards put them in a resealable bag in the freezer, which proves to be especially handy when I just need one or two portions.
The beauty of freezing ingredients is that the subzero temperature locks in the freshness. So when the time comes to thaw, the produce will be in just as good condition as before it was frozen. This is what Dr. Oetker Ristorante conveyed mid-March 2015 when it constructed a pizzeria comprising 34 huge blocks of ice, using 3,400 litres of water outside Liverpool Street station in London. In their own words, “freezing pauses fine ingredients at the peak of perfection and suspends them there until the moment you’re ready to enjoy them”.
So you made a big batch of pesto. Don’t know what to do?
Love Italian Food? Check out these cookbooks!
- Nigellissima: Instant Italian Inspiration
- Pronto! Let’s cook Italian in 20 minutes
- Gino’s Pasta: Everything You Need to Cook the Italian Way
- Chloe’s Vegan Italian Kitchen
21 Ways to Use Pesto
- Mix it with pasta.
- Mix it in with rice.
- Spread it on meat.
- Make a dip, by stirring it into mayonnaise or yogurt.
- Use it in a sandwich.
- Instead of using a tomato base on your pizza, use pesto.
- Garnish your soup.
- The secret ingredient of a salad dressing.
- Top your omelette or scrambled eggs with pesto.
- Bake it in your bread.
- Toss cooked vegetables in it.
- Make great little canapés like I did: Slices of bread slathered with cream cheese and topped with pesto. Alternative: Smear baguette slices with pesto and top with mozzarella slices.
- Potato mash with a twist.
- Use it as a marinade.
- Use it in a stew, it goes spectacularly well with chicken.
- If you have stale bread lying around, blend it with pesto to make breadcrumbs and top fish with it.
- Stir it into couscous.
- Add it to your meatball or burger patty mixture.
- Mix it with butter.
- Spoon it onto corn on the cob.
- Instead of butter use pesto to enjoy with baked sweet potatoes.
Did I miss anything? What is your favourite way to use pesto?
Print- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 10
- Yield: 2 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
Ingredients
- 250ml (1 cup) shelled pistachios, natural and unsalted
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 60g (2oz) basil, washed
- 1 lime, juiced
- 125ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
- season to taste
Instructions
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until desired consistency.
- Place in fridge or freeze in portions.
- Cuisine: Cuisine
Nutrition
- Calories: 168
- Sugar: Sugars
- Sodium: 117 mg
- Fat: 16.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 4.4 g
- Fiber: Dietary Fiber
- Protein: 2.7 g
nazima says
6th April 2015 at 9:27 pmahh I love pesto. Though have to admit don’t make it as often as I should mainly because I always overlook the idea of freezing it – which I will do. I made some wild garlic pesto last year that I’d really like to repeat. Nice tips on what to do with pesto. SO versatile!
★★★★★
nazima says
6th April 2015 at 9:27 pmahh I love pesto. Though have to admit don’t make it as often as I should mainly because I always overlook the idea of freezing it – which I will do. I made some wild garlic pesto last year that I’d really like to repeat. Nice tips on what to do with pesto. SO versatile!
★★★★★
Kirsty Fox says
6th April 2015 at 9:35 pmI use pesto when I make a pizza.
Kirsty Fox says
6th April 2015 at 9:35 pmI use pesto when I make a pizza.
Heather Haigh says
6th April 2015 at 10:27 pmI love pesto as a pizza topping.
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
7th April 2015 at 7:45 amI made a very similar pistachio pesto last year. Love the addition of lime in yours, and I think I’d be tempted to put the nutritional yeast in!
Jo of Jo's Nursery says
7th April 2015 at 9:04 amLots of lovely ideas for Pesto here. Great photos too. I must try it!
Tracey Peach says
7th April 2015 at 10:12 amOn Fresh Crusty Bread xxx
Kate @ Veggie Desserts says
7th April 2015 at 10:20 amI LOVE the sound of pistachio pesto – despite Nonna’s traditions! And that is a great list of ideas for pesto.
Tracy Nixon says
7th April 2015 at 10:42 amI love it with chicken, pine nuts and pasta!
★★★★★
Tracy Nixon says
7th April 2015 at 10:42 amI love it with chicken, pine nuts and pasta!
★★★★★
Sarah (@tamingtwins) says
7th April 2015 at 2:55 pmI didn’t know you could freeze pesto! Every day’s a school day. Beautiful photos, I must try pesto in my Froothie soon.
★★★★★
Jen says
7th April 2015 at 5:04 pmI love pesto, I’m also bad at letting herbs go to waste, need to get in the habit of whizzing up and freezing as pesto as it’s so versatile.
Jen says
7th April 2015 at 5:04 pmI love pesto, I’m also bad at letting herbs go to waste, need to get in the habit of whizzing up and freezing as pesto as it’s so versatile.
Suzanne Jackson says
7th April 2015 at 5:20 pmHaven’t been too adventurous with pesto, sadly. Usually just have it in tagliatelle with tuna and mayo or as a pizza base. 🙂
kellyjo walters says
7th April 2015 at 6:21 pmon pasta
kellyjo walters says
7th April 2015 at 6:21 pmon pasta
Holly E says
7th April 2015 at 6:46 pmI love pesto on baked cheese bread.
laura banks says
7th April 2015 at 7:15 pmmy hubby makes something involving scallops but not sure what he does
Kim M says
7th April 2015 at 8:20 pmLove it to perk up a pizza
mad sad says
8th April 2015 at 2:07 pmme too I love pesto on baked cheese bread
Kavey says
9th April 2015 at 9:54 amYour photos just pop, beautiful fresh green!
frances hopkins says
10th April 2015 at 8:07 amOn pasta x
Claire Davies says
12th April 2015 at 8:52 amI use it when I make quiches and pizzas – pesto is so versatile I always have a jar in the cupboard or fridge!
Natalie Crossan says
14th April 2015 at 10:17 pmwith pasta 🙂
Abi says
17th April 2016 at 4:47 pmVery delicious recipe and very simple to make
Renil M. George says
1st October 2017 at 2:44 pmi love italian food,
★★★★★
michelle says
21st October 2017 at 10:43 pmMe too 🙂
RoyS says
8th May 2018 at 4:09 amI love your pesto recipe here ~
However 60 g. of basil is not 30 oz. ~ It’s closer to 2 ounces ~
<3
★★★★★
michelle says
8th May 2018 at 12:35 pmThanks so much for pointing out my typo, Roy. All fixed!