How To Make The Perfect Pesto

This basil pesto is beautifully soft and creamy and has the perfect bite. It's a great topping for grilled chicken, fish, steak, or mixed-in pasta salads.

The first time I tried pesto, it wasn't great, I'll be honest. I know now that I'm allergic to pine nuts, which is a basic ingredient in pesto, so when I got all itchy, I put it aside and didn't try it again until years later. I just thought it wasn't for me, and I'll take the marinara sauce, please. It wasn't until recently when I saw a cooking show where they made pesto by hand with an actual mortar and pestle, that I thought, "You know what, that looks delicious. No reason I can't try it again!" And, oh man, I'm so glad I did.

This time I made it myself and tried different variations until I came up with some great options. I'm so excited to share these with you and turn those marinara lovers into pesto lovers! If you're already a pesto aficionado, you'll find some fun changes to what you might already be used to.

How to make pesto

This is one of the easiest things to make, seriously. I'll go through it with you.

1. Gather your ingredients
2. Blend them up
3. Eat!

It's literally that simple. There's no reason why you can't make this today.

Ingredients

This is where it gets fun. There are so many different variations, and at some point, they start turning into other sauces all together. Here are some of my favorite combinations. This makes about 1 cup. * Remember to loosely pack the leaves.

• 4 cups basil, 2 cups parsley, ½ cup parmesan, 3 garlic cloves, ½ toasted walnuts, ½ cup olive oil, ½ teaspoon kosher salt * This one is a bit more temperate with the addition of the parsley and it happens to be my favorite
• 6 cups basil, ½ cup parmesan, 3 garlic cloves, ½ cup toasted pine nuts, ½ olive oil, ½ teaspoon kosher salt * This is a classic version that you'll find most commonly
• 6 cup parsley, 1 roasted red pepper, ½ parmesan, 3 garlic cloves, ½ toasted walnuts, ½ roasted jalapeno, ½ cup olive oil, ½ teaspoon kosher salt * This is my favorite spiced up version!

Even more pesto variations

Greens

• Basil
• Parsley
• Mint
• Cilantro
• Kale
• Spinach

Nuts

• Pine nuts
• Walnuts
• Almonds
• Pepitas
• Pecans

Oil

• Olive
• Canola
• Vegetable
• Coconut
• Avocado

Yummy Additions

• Artichoke hearts
• Roasted red peppers
• Roasted jalapeno
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Avocado
• Summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash)

Tools

There are a few different options for blending these ingredients all together. Here are my notes for each.

Immersion blender: This needs to be done in a taller cup or bowl so the blade can reach everything and mix it all together

Food processor: Start by doing a couple of pulses with everything but the oil, then add it slowly through the hole in the top while continuing to pulse. This will create a smooth sauce.

Blender: A good old-fashioned blender will work here, but make sure to pulse the greens until roughly blended before adding anything else. The greens tend to get stuck at the bottom if you don't do this first.

Mortar and pestle: This may take slightly longer, but man, is it worth it! The sharp scent of the basil and garlic being crushed together and then smoothed out with the oil is amazing and, honestly, pretty cathartic.

How to store pesto

Refrigerate: Put your pesto in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. I recommend letting it come to room temperature before adding it to your meal.

Freeze: Pesto freezes beautifully. I hate wasting good food, so I like to freeze everything I can. Pesto is perfect for this. I make a large batch, put it in the freezer, take out a big scoop, and let it come to room temperature whenever I need some. Voilá

Pesto recipes

One of my family's favorite meals is grilled chicken, rice, and a veggie. My kids will barely eat anything else right now. Except pizza. I recently convinced my 4-year-old that pesto is his new favorite sauce because I was tired of eating the same meal all the time. (I'm honestly not sure how I did this, but I expect he'll hate it again in a few months.) Now, though, I can put pesto on our chicken, steak, pasta, and their favorite - pizza!

There really isn't a limit on the variations you can create and the food you can top it with. Your imagination is the limit!

If you try it out, let me know how it goes in the comments or on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest.