Fresh Basil Pesto Sauce
How to make pesto sauce? Fresh Basil Pesto Sauce is a Northern Italian sauce, made with primarily fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts, and 2 kinds of cheeses. It’s a simple sauce that requires no-cooking, only blending, and tossed with pasta for a quick dish during the spring and summer months.
Our fresh basil pesto sauce is made with 5 ingredients and blended into a creamy smooth sauce. It’s nut-free and so delicious, you’ll want to keep it on rotation all year long.
What is Pesto Sauce?
- Pesto sauce is basically a green-colored sauce, made primarily with fresh basil and olive oil. No cooking, only blending. And a few additional ingredients are added to enhance its aromatic flavors: pine nuts, and two kinds of cheeses, Pecorino, and Parmigiano.
- It originated from the region of Liguria, in Northern Italy. The Ligurians are known for making the BEST pesto sauce in the world.
- Still today, the Ligurians hold yearly competitions and even award those who make the “best pesto sauce” year after year.
Our mom usually makes her pesto sauce with “pignoli,” which means pine nuts in Italian.
However, nowadays, with nut allergies in our family, we have become a NUT-FREE home, eliminating all the nuts altogether.
Regardless, our pesto sauce is exquisite, even without the pine nuts. It is positively delicious every time!
Reasons to Love Fresh Basil Pesto Sauce:
- pesto is super versatile as a sauce, and the possibilities are endless!
- it’s very easy and requires No cooking! (whatsoever!)
- use it as a delicious condiment: easily drizzle it over pizza, eggs, and as well on grilled shrimp, or chicken.
- use it on fresh garden tomatoes and mozzarella for Caprese salad.
- add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of pesto to soups for extra flavoring.
- not only for pasta! You can stir pesto into risotto and enjoy the most delicious flavor in risotto ever!
I make it all year long and use it with so many recipes.
In our family, everyone’s favorite dish is spaghetti with fresh basil pesto sauce – hands down!!
Fresh Pesto vs Buying Jarred Pesto?
- While “fresh” sauce always tastes so much better than store-bought, you can actually taste the difference! Best of all, it’s so much better for you, as in healthy.
- No preservatives, no additives, no soybean oil, or corn oil. Just all-natural, healthy ingredients to give us the BEST flavor and tasting sauce ever!
- When you make it homemade you know you are getting quality ingredients and fake, imitation sauce.
Take our word for it! It’s worth making it yourself!
Fresh is always BEST!
Few Notes and Tips…
- If you prefer, you can add nuts to the sauce. About 2 tablespoons of pine nuts or walnuts when blending.
- Keep in mind, pesto sauce is a delicate sauce. Do not place it directly over heat. It’s best to remove your pasta pot off to a cooler spot on the stove when tossing the pesto with your pasta.
- When blending, try not to blend the mixture too long, or it will start cooking the sauce. You want to keep it fresh, and clean tasting.
- Also, it is recommended to drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the top after you have transferred it to your mason jar. This will keep the fresh bright green color, and keep it from turning brown.
Can we freeze pesto sauce?
- Yes, you can. You can spoon the pesto into your ice cube trays and drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the tops of each of the cubes.
- Then freeze for a few hours until solid. Remove the frozen pesto cubes from the tray and add them to a large plastic food storage bag and label the bag along with the date.
- You can also, freeze in a plastic container, and drizzle some olive oil over the top. Then freeze for a few hours. Remove and cut into squares, add those to a plastic freezer bag and label the bag.
Additional recipes to use pesto sauce with…
- Chicken Rollatini with Pesto and Mozzarella
- Flounder Filet Rollatini
- Seared Sea Scallops Over Pesto Sauce
- Cod Fillet Over Pesto Risotto
Keep in mind, if you have family members that have nut allergies. Omit the nuts completely! The taste will still be !!
Here’s a Tip:
Keep our pesto sauce in an air-tight jar, refrigerated. Add a small amount of olive oil on top of the sauce in the jar after every time you use some. It keeps fresh for up to 4 months. I will be using this fresh basil pesto sauce in various recipes, so stay tuned!
Also, try our recipes for other Pesto Sauces:
Fresh tasting and delicious over pasta! They too won’t disappoint!
ENJOY!!
Yield: 2 cups
Fresh Basil Pesto Sauce
Fresh Basil Pesto Sauce is an easy and delicious sauce for any quick dish anytime! Fresh basil with some garlic and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and pecorino cheeses are blended with extra virgin olive oil. Serve with your favorite pasta for a delicious quick meal.
Prep Time
10 minutes
Total Time
10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 bunches of basil - about 3 to 5 cups or more - packed
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil ( plus extra as needed)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/8 tsp. of salt
- dash of cayenne pepper
- fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Pecorino-Romano cheese
Instructions
- First, if you taking fresh basil from your garden, you will need to prep and rinse the leaves. Remove only the leaves of basil, and discard all the stems. Using a salad spinner rinse fresh basil under cold water, then spin out excess water. No Need if you buy fresh basil that's already been rinsed.
- Using a blender, or a food processor, pour in only 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and toss in the basil leaves, garlic cloves, cayenne pepper, and salt.
- Blend on high speed to puree those first ingredients (hold the grated Parmesan and pecorino cheeses), for a few seconds, until it is well blended. Then, use a spatula to push down on the sides. NOTE: If the mixture is too thick, drizzle a little more olive oil into the mixture, do this only in small increments and blend until it reaches a nice smooth consistency.
- Then add in both kinds of cheese and blend until well combined. If you need to add more olive oil, you may do so.
- Taste the pesto, and season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Transfer and store in an air-tight jar or container. Keep it chilled in the refrigerated, and it will stay fresh for up to 3 months.
- Yields: about 2 cups
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4 to 8 servingsServing Size:
1 serving (1/4 cup)Amount Per Serving: Calories: 71Total Fat: 7.4gCarbohydrates: .8gFiber: .2gSugar: .1gProtein: 1.4g
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