Basic basil pesto recipe or Basil pesto sauce is a very rich, colorful, and flavorful sauce. Using Basil in your diet has many awesome advantages. Did you know basil has excellent antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory properties? It also has phytochemicals to prevent cancer, helps aid digestion, glowing skin, and has ingredients that naturally decrease stress. It not only tastes good but helps your body in many ways. The pesto sauce was on my list of things to make ever since my potted organic basil plant was ready for harvest. We usually plant basil every time we start gardening beginning of April every year.
It is a very simple sauce to make and tastes much better than the ready-made store-bought ones. It is also very versatile and goes well with so many varieties of dishes be it a pizza, sandwich, bruschetta, hummus, fried rice, or pasta! This is an uncooked sauce and can be made in bulk and stored for later use. I used almonds in this sauce as I had them handy, the traditional recipe calls for pine nuts. Some others also use walnuts as well. The other ingredients are parmesan cheese, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Do try it out and be ready to get some accolades from your guests. I would love to hear if you have any favorite recipes using pesto. Till next time, happy cooking!
Basil pesto sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups basil leaves origin
- ⅓ cup olive oil extra virgin
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup almonds
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Add the basil leaves, olive oil, almonds, garlic, parmesan cheese into a blender or food processor and blend well.
- Once the paste is smooth, transfer the contents to a bowl.
- Add lemon juice, salt and pepper and mix well.
- Transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator for a week or freeze for about 3 months and use as needed.
Notes
- To make bruschetta , spread some sauce on the french bread slices topped with chopped tomatoes, onions, mozarella and parmesan cheese and bake at 400 deg till the cheese melts.
- To make spaghetti, cook spaghetti in boiling water , drain and cool. Stir fry your choice of veggies, tomatoes, garlic in olive oil .Add the pesto sauce and mix the spaghetti into it.
- To make sandwiches, layer the breads with pesto sauce, sliced vegetables, cheese, pepper,salt .
Yummy!
Thank you so much!
Sounds Delish ! Love the flavor of basil leaves 💚
Do we need to blanch the almonds?
Me too love the flavor . I used the almonds as is Smitha . Thank you so much for the comment!
I have never tried it with almonds, I always use pine nuts, will have to give this a go 🙂
Sure Lorelle do give it a try , I could not make much of a difference . Thank you so much!
I love basil!! This sounds delicious, thank you for sharing Nisha 🙂
Thank you so much Anita, I love basil as well, wish I had been introduced to it sooner 🙂
Wow, I love Basil leaves! Will try this recipe for sure!❤
I'm pretty sure you will love it .Thank you so much!
Such a greeny goodness...I always use cashews instead of pine nuts...almonds' is a nice choice too...
Ah I see, cashews are a good choice as well! Thank you Jyo appreciate your comments!
Fabulous recipe!!!!!
Thank you so much Diane for the wonderful comment!
Wow, lovely creamy green pesto! I like the idea of using almonds in here.
Thank you so much Megala , Almonds are healthy and I like using them as well!
This looks yummie
Thank you so much!