10 recipes for pesto sauce: from classics to experiments

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

With basil, spinach, pine and walnuts, seeds and more.

Italian pesto sauce goes well with pasta, rice, meat dishes, fish and seafood. It can be used as a salad dressing, added to pizza, and made sandwiches with it.

Store pesto in a tightly closed glass jar in the refrigerator. The top of the sauce should be covered with a thin layer of oil, if not enough, you can top up. So it will retain its freshness for up to one and a half weeks.

Prepared with a stock of pesto can be frozen in an ice mold, and then transferred to a bag and left in the freezer. The sauce will not lose its taste and can be stored for several months.

1. Classic pesto sauce with basil and pine nuts

Ingredients

• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 60 g of hard cheese, such as parmesan;
• 70 g basil;
• 30 g pine nuts;
• 80 ml olive oil;
• ¼ teaspoon of salt;
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper.

Preparation

Chop the garlic. Grate the cheese on a fine grater.

Whisk the basil and pine nuts with a blender. Add garlic and cheese. Stir. Pour in olive oil and start the blender again. Season the sauce with salt and pepper.

2. Pesto sauce with spinach and walnuts

Ingredients

• 30 g of hard cheese, such as parmesan;
• 30 g walnuts;
• 90 g spinach leaves;
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 70 ml of olive oil;
• salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation

Grate the cheese on a fine grater. Chop the walnuts and fry in a dry skillet over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Cool afterwards.

Use a blender to whisk the spinach, lemon juice, nuts and parmesan until smooth. Add oil and stir again. Season with salt and pepper, then whisk the sauce again.

3. Pesto sauce with basil and broccoli

Ingredients

• 70 g broccoli;
• 30 g of hard cheese;
• 1 clove of garlic;
• 20 basil leaves;
• 30 g pine nuts;
• ½ teaspoon salt;
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 100 ml of olive oil.

Preparation

Chop the broccoli. Grate the cheese on a fine grater. Chop the garlic.

Grind the broccoli and basil with a blender. Add nuts and punch again. Then add cheese, salt, lemon juice and garlic. Whisk until smooth. Add oil and mix well again.

4. Pesto sauce with cilantro and pumpkin seeds

Ingredients

• 1 clove of garlic;
• 45 g pumpkin seeds;
• 100 g cilantro;
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon chili pepper;
• 120 ml of olive oil.

Preparation

Chop the garlic. Fry the pumpkin seeds over medium heat for a few minutes in a skillet without oil.

Combine seeds, cilantro, garlic, salt and chili with a blender. Add butter little by little and beat until smooth.

5. Pesto sauce with fried seeds

Ingredients

• 1 clove of garlic;
• 50 g of gouda cheese;
• ½ teaspoon of sunflower oil;
• 50 g of shelled sunflower seeds;
• salt to taste;
• 80 g of basil;
• 120 ml olive oil;
• pepper to taste.

Preparation

Chop the garlic. Grate the cheese on a fine grater.

Heat sunflower oil in a skillet over medium heat. Arrange the seeds, season with salt and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Cool afterwards.

Combine the basil with olive oil with a blender. Add garlic, cheese and seeds, continue beating until smooth. Season with salt, pepper and stir again.

6. Pesto sauce with beet tops

Ingredients

• 50 g of walnuts;
• 50 g of hard cheese, such as parmesan;
• 120 g beet tops;
• 30 g basil;
• salt to taste;
• 70 ml of olive oil.

Preparation

Chop the walnuts. Grate the cheese on a fine grater.

Combine nuts, cheese, tops, basil and salt with a blender. Then add olive oil and whisk again. The mixture should be smooth.

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7. Pesto sauce with rucola and zucchini

Ingredients

• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 40 g of hard cheese;
• 50 g of walnuts;
• 1 zucchini;
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 40 g arugula;
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation

Cut the garlic into small pieces. Grate the cheese on a fine grater.

Fry the nuts in a pan without oil for a couple of minutes. Then cool and cut.

Grate the zucchini on a coarse grater and squeeze the juice. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet and cook the zucchini over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Refrigerate.

Grind the arugula and nuts with a blender. Add remaining butter, zucchini, lemon juice, zest, cheese, salt and pepper. Beat until smooth.

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8. Pesto sauce with cilantro and chili

Ingredients

• 40 g of hard cheese;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 40 g walnuts;
• 1 chili pepper;
• 70 g cilantro;
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste;
• 100 ml of olive oil.

Preparation

Grate the cheese on a fine grater. Cut the garlic, nuts and chili into small pieces.

Use a blender to whisk together the cheese, garlic, nuts, chili, cilantro, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Then add olive oil and stir again.

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9. Pesto sauce with mint and pistachios

Ingredients

• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 90 g of hard cheese;
• 90 g peeled pistachios;
• 30 g mint;
• 70 g parsley;
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• salt to taste;
• 100 ml of olive oil.

Preparation

Cut the garlic into small pieces. Grate the cheese on a fine grater.

Beat all ingredients with a blender until smooth.

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10. Pesto sauce with basil, spinach and fried garlic

Ingredients

• 1 clove of garlic;
• 100 g of pine nuts;
• 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil;
• 70 g basil;
• 50 g spinach;
• 60 ml olive oil;
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt to taste.

Preparation

Chop the garlic and nuts and place in a frying pan with heated sunflower oil. Fry over medium heat for 2-3 minutes and cool.

Put the basil in a pot of boiling water for 10 seconds, then dry it with a paper towel and refrigerate.

Use a blender to chop the nuts, garlic, basil and spinach. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and beat until smooth.

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