By August our basil plants get away from us no matter how hard we try to keep up, so pesto season becomes a real thing around here. This is the classic version, nothing fancy, just basil, garlic, good olive oil, and a little cheese, blitzed up and jarred before it can wilt. Freeze what you don’t use right away and you’ll be glad to have it come January.
Prep
15 min
Cook
No cook
Serves
about 1 1/2 cups (three 1/2-pint jars)
Category
Sauce/Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed, stems removed
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts, lightly toasted
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for topping the jars
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- Fresh black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, shaking often, until fragrant. Let cool slightly.
- In a food processor, pulse the basil, Parmesan, toasted nuts, and garlic until finely chopped.
- With the processor running, slowly stream in the olive oil until the pesto reaches the consistency you like.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon into small clean jars, pressing down to remove air pockets, and top each with a thin layer of olive oil to help it keep.
- Refrigerate up to a week, or freeze up to 3 months. It thaws just fine and tastes like summer whenever you open it.
Toss it with hot pasta, spread it on a sandwich, or spoon it over sliced tomatoes fresh off the vine. However it lands on your plate, it won’t last long. Want to grow your own? Check our guide for basil.
Explore More Fresh Ingredients
Every recipe in this book starts with something we grew ourselves. Real seeds from our own garden beds, the same ones behind every dish here.