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Home » Recipes

Classic Homemade Pesto

Published: Aug 27, 2017 · Modified: Jan 31, 2021 by Emma · This post may contain affiliate links · 6 Comments

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Forget that bland jar of oily pesto you bought at the store. Read on for my classic homemade pesto recipe!

Apparently the key to a successful blog is to find a niche and I can see that's probably true. You'll find plenty of blogs sharing healthy recipes, vegetarian recipes, some share recipes to make in a slow cooker others go one step further sharing puddings made out of vegetables!

I think it's fair to say that this blog doesn't have a niche. I share a little bit of everything, which is perhaps why no-one has offered me a cook book deal yet! There's still time...right?!

Everyone needs a classic homemade pesto recipe in their repertoire. Get my tried and tested recipe from Supper in the Suburbs!

Cooking from scratch

What I do try to do with this blog is share simple, tasty recipes that anyone can cook. I am not a trained chef, I have no nutritional qualifications and to be quite frank, I don't have that much free time on my hands! All I want to do is show that you can eat well without resorting to ready made packets, mixes and sauces every day of the week.

Now don't get me wrong, I do use store bought shortcuts every now and then. (Puff pastry I'm looking at you!) But, cooking from scratch always tastes SO much better so when I can I like to swap out some of my favourite store bought sauces for my own home made versions.

Classic pesto

Pesto is one of those sauces that we ALWAYS have a jar of in the fridge. Pesto pasta is such a simple lunch or dinner and can be rustled up in minutes (especially if you're making it with fresh pasta). When I was a student I absolutely lived off of pesto pasta and even now we have it probably once a week!

I was surprised then that I'd never actually shared a recipe for a classic homemade pesto. I did have two variations (Kale and Walnut Pesto / Roasted Red Pepper Pesto) but not the regular kind! Clearly that needed rectifying...

It doesn't take too many ingredients to make pesto from scratch - just basil, Parmesan, pine nuts and olive oil. A little garlic and lemon plus seasoning take it to another level.

Everyone needs a classic homemade pesto recipe in their repertoire. Get my tried and tested recipe from Supper in the Suburbs!

Blitz it up

I love that, when you make your own pesto, you can easily adapt the recipe to your own taste. If you like it a little thinner, just add more olive oil. Like it quite salty, then chuck in more Parmesan. Me? I like it packed full of basil so that it's the brightest shade of green you ever did see!

I'd definitely recommend toasting your pine nuts first but if you just can' be bothered I won't judge. Just chuck all of the ingredients in your blend and blitz it up! It really is that easy!

My recipe will make about 250 ml (or one jar's worth). You can easily multiply it if you're in need of a BIG batch because you love pesto as much as I do.

To find out about growing your own basil to make this Classic Pesto recipe click here.

Everyone needs a classic homemade pesto recipe in their repertoire. Get my tried and tested recipe from Supper in the Suburbs!

The recipe

Everyone needs a classic homemade pesto recipe in their repertoire. Get my tried and tested recipe from Supper in the Suburbs!

Classic Homemade Pesto

Pesto is a classic Italian sauce. It's perfect for stirring through pasta for a quick and easy dinner
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 10 minutes mins
Course Condiment
Cuisine Italian
Servings 8 servings
Calories 249.95 kcal

Equipment

  • Blender

Ingredients
 
 

  • 75 g parmesan or vegetarian Italian hard cheese
  • 50 g pine nuts toasted
  • 100 g basil
  • 150 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 0.5 lemon juice only

Instructions
 

  • Add the parmesan to your blender and pulse until it has grated.
  • Put the rest of the ingredients in the blender and blitz on high for 1 minute or until a smooth sauce has formed.
  • Place in a sterilised jar and top with a little more live oil.
  • Use within 1 month.

Nutrition

Calories: 249.95kcalCarbohydrates: 2.2gProtein: 4.7gFat: 25.55gSaturated Fat: 4.44gCholesterol: 6.38mgSodium: 151.39mgPotassium: 93.82mgFiber: 0.63gSugar: 0.51gVitamin A: 735.93IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 136.75mgIron: 0.97mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

You can use this pesto in all sorts of pasta dishes, in tarts or on bruschetta. What do you like to do with a jar of fresh pesto? Let me know if the comments.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julie W says

    August 27, 2017 at 7:58 am

    Nice one! I'm def going to make this. I'll confess I have 2 or 3 jars of different types in the fridge and they're never that wonderful.
    I'm going to make a veggie lasagne for my kiddiwinks when they come back from their orchestra tour in Germany on Wednesday so I'll make some of this and stir it into the sauce!

    Reply
    • Emma Walton says

      August 27, 2017 at 6:04 pm

      Love, love, love the idea of stirring it into lasagne!!! Great idea 😀 I might have to steal that from you 😉 enjoy!

      Reply
  2. Janice says

    August 27, 2017 at 9:34 am

    Sounds like my kind of food, a little bit of everything made from scratch at home. Your pesto looks delicious and your blog is always a pleasure to visit.

    Reply
    • Emma Walton says

      August 27, 2017 at 6:04 pm

      Thanks Janice! That's really sweet of you 🙂

      Reply
  3. Joanna says

    September 18, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    I have made pesto once and it was so much better than the one bought in a jar. Actually pesto is one of my favorite sauces for pasta. When I was in Italy a few years ago I discovered the walnut pesto and fell in love with it. I bought it fresh from the market and never seen it again after that. I still remember how good it was.

    Reply
    • Emma Walton says

      September 18, 2017 at 1:57 pm

      I'm so jealous Joanna. I've still not been to Italy - hopefully one day soon! If you like walnut pesto you may like my kale and wlanut version - you can check it out here http://supperinthesuburbs.com/2015/06/09/kale-and-walnut-pesto/

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Emma. I'm a UK based food blogger who's been sharing recipes with the world since 2011. I'm passionate about eating a plant based diet using local, seasonal ingredients.

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