With gardens, I tend to go in cycles. I like to grow produce and flowers (especially sunflowers) but they don’t always go well. Some years, the plants just don’t sprout, or they die off quickly from the weather, or they just get eaten to death by bugs. Other years, they thrive without much of any attention.
This year has been a good year for my basil plant, and I’ve been harvesting a lot of fresh basil leaves despite the unrelenting assault of earwigs trying to chew through it. And, what better way to use a bunch of basil than by making a pesto?
Now, most basil pesto recipes use pine nuts. I don’t mind them — I even use them in this recipe — but they’re honestly surprisingly hard to find sometimes and I don’t keep them on hand. What I do keep on hand is pecans, which are my go-to substitute nut for any time I want a nut but don’t like the nut the recipe calls for. Fortunately, you can replace pine nuts with all sorts of other ingredients, including almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and yes, even pecans.
So, that’s what I did!
There’s really not a lot to this recipe. You have the basil, which needs to be fresh to get that vibrant green and bright delicious taste. There’s garlic, which is garlic; fresh cloves are best, though I suppose you could use pre-minced garlic if you wanted. There’s oil, and a good EVOO is your best option here. There’s lemon juice, which I recommend getting from fresh lemons to avoid that strange bitterness of the store-bought stuff. And, of course, there’s some Parmesan cheese, and a nice high-quality parm goes a long way.
Other than that, it’s just a matter of combining them! Then figuring out how to use it. I made a pasta with some chicken and zucchini, and it turned out great. What would you use your pesto on?
Fresh Basil Pesto
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Fresh Basil Leaves
- ½ Cup Pine Nuts, Pecans, or Other Nuts Toasted
- ½ Cup Parmesan Cheese
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- ¼ Cup Olive Oil
- ½ Tsp Salt
Instructions
- Add the nuts, garlic, salt, oil, and lemon to your food processor and blend until mostly chopped and mixed.
- Add in the basil leaves and pulse to chop and mix, scraping the sides down with a rubber spatula or spoon as needed.
- Add the Parmesan and pulse until mixed, just 3-4 pulses.
- Use right away or cover and save for later!