The Best Classic Pesto
This is the Best Classic Pesto recipe. With pine nuts, basil, garlic, pecorino, and Parmesan, this pesto is easy to make and full of flavor.
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup pine nuts
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 4 cups basil, rinsed
- ⅓ cup Pecorino, freshly grated or ground
- ⅓ cup Parmesan, freshly grated or ground
- ¾ cup olive oil
Instructions
Process the pine nuts and garlic
- To the bowl of your food processor/preferred processing apparatus, add the pine nuts and garlic cloves.
- Pulse a few times, then process until the pine nuts and garlic are smooth and combined.
Add the basil, sea salt, and cheese
- Now add the basil and sea salt to the pine nut/garlic mixture. Process again until a mostly smooth green paste forms.
- Now add the Pecorino and Parmesan. Process again until the cheese has completely incorporated.
Add the olive oil
- Last, add the olive oil to the food processor. Process until the olive oil incorporates completely into the rest of the ingredients.
- Pesto is done. Enjoy as a pizza sauce, dipping sauce, on sandwiches etc. Or follow my recipe below for pesto pasta.
Make pesto pasta
- Bring 12-14 cups of salted water (I use scant 1 Tbsp sea salt) to a boil.
- Cook 1 pound of pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta, and put it back in the pot.
Add the pesto and pasta water
- Quickly add ½ cup of pesto to the pasta. With tongs or a spoon and fork, toss the pesto into the pasta.
- Now add about ⅓ cup of the reserved pasta water to the pot. Toss the water into the pasta. The water will help spread and incorporate the pesto into the pasta.
- Taste, and add more pesto and pasta water as desired. I usually end up adding about 1 cup of pesto and ½-¾ cup water, but use more or less according to your own preference. The more pesto you use, the stronger the flavor will be. The more water you use, the thinner the pesto will be.
Serve and enjoy!
- Serve the pesto pasta with freshly grated Parmesan. Add tomatoes and chickpeas to the pot to make it a one pot meal. Or serve the pesto pasta with your favorite meat substitute and a salad like this one.
Notes
This recipe makes about 1 ½ cups pesto.
This pesto is vegetarian.
This pesto is gluten-free.
If your grocery budget is tight and you simply must have pesto (I speak from experience), substitute the pine nuts in this recipe with cashews. They're cheaper and the pesto will still taste great.