Homemade Pesto

The classic basil pesto sauce made with pine nuts or walnuts, lots of fresh basil, and real Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese will add flavor to anything to combine it with, from pasta to pizza to spaghetti sauce.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 15 mins
• Calories: 389 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup pine nuts
• 4 cups packed fresh basil leaves
• ¼ cup Italian parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
• 1 ½ cups shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more as needed

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Place basil, Italian parsley, and garlic into a food processor, pulse several times to combine, and process until basil is finely chopped, about 30 seconds. Add pine nuts to basil mixture; process until finely chopped, 30 more seconds. Process Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into mixture until finely ground.

Step 2

Mix lemon juice into mixture with the machine running; slowly drizzle olive oil into pesto in the running machine until incorporated and pesto is thoroughly combined. Turn off machine and season pesto to taste with salt and black pepper.