How To Make Pesto: Cooking With Courtney

From Feed the Soul Blog:

For years, I couldn’t work up the guts to try to make a homemade basil pesto. I’m not sure why it intimidated me, but it totally did. But once I made fresh basil pesto at home for the first time, I could not believe I waited so long.

This basil pesto recipe is nutty, refreshing, zesty, luxurious, a little bit creamy, a lotta bit versatile. A squeeze of citrus and a sprinkling of parmesan or pecorino romano are delightful in this recipe, but it is super flexible.

You remove the cheese if you’re dairy-free, for example, or add in all kinds of flavorings that you love. You can even swap basil for another herb or go halfsies, if you really want. I love the classic pine nut (with a healthy amount of char), but I have used so many different kinds of nuts and all led to a delicious and unique pesto.

Skip to the full recipe.

The best part, though, is that you throw some stuff in a food processor or blender and press a button. THAT’S. IT. You can make it as smooth or as chunky as you want. The possibilities are innumerable.

It stores well in the fridge, though some change in color is to be expected, and you can dump pesto on anything. There’s pesto pasta with roasted veggies. Sandwiches. Crostinis. Breakfast scrambles. Salmon. Caprese salad. Macadamia nut pesto. Mint pesto. Cashew Pesto. All. Pesto. All. The. Time.

Toasting the pine nuts is optional, and a lot of people skip this step. You can if you’re pinched for time. But if you can spare the time, do it. The incredible, more complex flavor that results is so worth the five minutes!

Get the complete recipe, including ingredients, instructions, tips and more photos, at feedthesoulblog.com.

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