Ingredients
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- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 cups loosely-packed fresh basil leaves
- 1–2 tablespoons of water (optional, for thinning out the sauce to the desired texture)
Instructions
- In the base of a blender or food processor, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic clove, pine nuts, salt, and fresh basil leaves.
- Process on high for 30-45 seconds or until the ingredients have blended together. The pesto should have a smooth and creamy consistency. Feel free to add up to several tablespoons of water if you want the sauce to be thinner.
- Serve immediately, or store in a tightly-sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Equipment
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- You can use the pesto on cooked pasta, or on top of a pizza or flatbread. You can also thin it out a bit with olive oil and use it as a salad dressing.
- Feel free to substitute any other nut or seeds for the pine nuts, including sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, or cashew nuts. These will all provide a lovely nutty flavor to your pesto.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 4 days. Or, freeze any leftover pesto in an ice cube tray for long-term storage. Then, pop out the pesto cubes and store them in a zip-top bag. The next time you need pesto, just defrost a few of your pesto cubes.
- Now that we’re almost into summer, there is just so much fresh basil available. But, if you don’t have 3 full cups worth of fresh basil, you could always make this pesto recipe with baby spinach, baby kale, or any other tender green or herb.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 minute
- Category: Sauces
- Method: Food processor
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 56
- Sugar: 0.1 g
- Sodium: 194.1 mg
- Fat: 6.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 0.6 g
- Fiber: 0.1 g
- Protein: 0.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg