Pesto with Pine Nuts

Pesto with Pine Nuts

Origin: Italy

By Dale Nat

Pesto is a sauce typically made from basil, oil, cheese and seasonings. It can be added to pastas, used as a dip or my favorite smothered on the inside of a wrap with turkey, lettuce and peppers.

It originates from Genoa, Italy. Its name comes from the original instrument it was made with, a pestle.

Valarie loves to make pesto with her KitchenAid food processor, but if you lose your power, feel free to try and make it the traditional way with your mortar and pestle.

Valarie started making her own pesto after our Son Tristan started trying it at our local farmers market. He would eat it faster than she could buy it. That was the inspiration for her to make it the first time. After you make fresh pesto for the first time, the store bought pesto usually falls short.

Her recipe was inspired by variety of sources and recipes. There are countless recipes out there with minor tweaks or ingredients to vary the flavors. The key to this recipe is the flavor added from the toasted pine nuts, fresh basil and quality cheeses.

The smell of fresh pesto being scraped out of your food processor is unmistakable. It is great just spreading It on your cracker, but the flavor burst it adds to your favorite pasta dish, wrap or pizza is delightful. We typically say it will last up to five days covered in the fridge, but good luck keeping it around that long. It rarely lasts a day in this house.

We hope you find endless uses for your pesto and enjoy it as much as we do. Let us know how you like. We always enjoy hearing from our fellow foodies.

Pesto with Pine Nuts

unstoppablefoodie Pesto with Pine Nuts Origin: Italy By Dale Nat Pesto is a sauce typically made from basil, oil, cheese and seasonings. It… Print This

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 15 mins

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 3 cups of fresh basil leaves, slightly packed
• ¼ cup of parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• ¼ cup of romano cheese, freshly grated
• 3 medium cloves of minced garlic
• 1 ½ tsps. of lemon zest
• 3 tsps. of lemon juice
• ¼ cup of toasted pine nuts (see below)
• ½ cup of olive oil, more if desired.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions

1. To roast pine nuts, place in frying pan on medium high heat for 3 minutes or until golden, stir frequently. Do not add any oil to the pan.
2. Place all ingredients including pine nuts into food processor and blend until ingredients breakdown into smooth consistency. If a coarser pesto is desired, use the pulse setting on your food processor.
3. Taste pesto and add additional amounts of ingredients for desired flavor.

 

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