This recipe teaches you how to make and store walnut basil pesto at home.

Preparation List for Walnut Basil Pesto:

• Servings: 3-4
• Active Time: 10 min
• Ingredients:
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 cups packed(60g) basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup(60g) walnuts (can also use pine nuts)
  • 6 tablespoons(90ml) extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons(24g) grated parmesan cheese (can also use pecorino)
  • 0.5 teaspoon(3g) salt or to taste

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Walnut Basil Pesto Recipe

• Blend Pesto. Add the 2 cups(60g) of basil leaves to the food processor and get the olive oil ready to add. Turn the food processor to high speed and, while it is running, drizzle in the 6 tablespoons(90ml) of olive oil. Once the basil leaves are incorporated into the paste, stop the food processor as running it for longer than needed can heat the mixture too much. Lastly, add in the 4 tablespoons(24g) of grated parmesan and mix that in to bind it together through light pulsing of the food processor.

• Serving and Storing. Generally, pesto is not cooked, so it should be used raw to dress pasta, meat, pizzas, bread, etc. after they have already been cooked. The reason for this is that the pesto’s flavor gets somewhat muted by cooking. A great trick for storing pesto is to put it into an ice-cube tray and freeze it. To unfreeze the pesto without over-heating it, I thaw it by adding the cubes I need to a bowl and leaving them to soften a bit at room temperature. Then, I crush the cubes up with a fork until it is a paste again and then use it as normal.