The Best Basil Pesto

If you have a blender, smoothie maker, ‘bullet’ blender or coffee grinder you can make this in a jiffy.  There are so many ways to use pesto, you will wonder why its taken you so long to make it!  Add it to pasta, smear it on grilled fish or chicken, make a tasty sandwich with grilled vegetables and pesto, toss it through roast veggies once they are cooked….the list is endless.  Traditionally it is made with pine-nuts, but they are so expensive I usually use cashew or macadamia instead.  You can also use different herbs, coriander, dandelion, aniseed, rocket and sorrel are all good.

Basil Pesto

If you have a blender, smoothie maker, ‘bullet’ blender or coffee grinder you can make this in a jiffy.  There are so many ways to use pesto, you will wonder why its taken you so long to make it!  Add it to pasta, smear it on grilled fish or chicken, make a tasty sandwich with grilled vegetables and pesto, toss it through roast veggies once they are cooked….the list is endless.  Traditionally it is made with pine-nuts, but they are so expensive I usually use cashew or macadamia instead.  You can also use different herbs, coriander is good and so is aniseed. 

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Prep Time 10 mins

Equipment

• blender

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups Fresh basil leaves, rinsed and stems removed
• 1/3 cup Pine-nuts, cashew nuts or macadamia nuts Pine-nuts are so expensive I usually replace with cashew or macadamia nuts
• 2 Fresh garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese Freshly grated is so much better than the powdery one you can buy
• 1/2 cup Olive oil
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black pepper

Instructions

 

• Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend for about two minutes
  
• Pour into a clean, sterilised jar and top with olive oil. This will stop it drying out
• Seal and keep in the fridge. Use within 2 months
• Alternatively pour into ice cube trays and freeze and it keeps for months
• Or, seal as you would a jam or chutney and it will keep longer on a shelf