One of the best parts of summer is picking sweet, fresh basil from my garden. I adore having a garden; not only because it offers delicious perks, but it brings peace beyond understanding. If you are looking for an easy herb to grow, basil is your plant. You can grow basil in the ground or in a medium sized planting pot. With lots of sun, it will be happy and you will be sweetly rewarded. Nothing says summer like Classic Basil Pesto, so let’s get started.
Classic Basil Pesto only requires a few fresh ingredients. I recommend using extra virgin olive oil and a high quality grated Parmesan cheese, for the best tasting pesto.
Place 2 TBSP of extra virgin olive oil to the side and add all other ingredients to the food processor or high rpm blender.
Process the ingredients on low and continue to high as you slowly add the remaining amount of olive oil. Stop to scrape down the sides as needed. Process for a few minutes or until the ingredients create a smooth pesto.
Enjoy this delicious classic basil pesto on pasta, toasted baguette slices topped with fresh diced tomatoes, or on my Pesto Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich! Recipe coming tomorrow, so stay tuned :)
- 3 cups fresh basil, packed
- ⅓ cup + 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ cup grated parmesan, high quality
- kosher salt and pepper, to taste
- Place 2 TBSP of extra virgin olive oil to the side.
- Add all other ingredients to the food processor or high rpm blender.
- Process the ingredients on low and continue to high as you slowly add the remaining amount of olive oil. Stop to scrape down the sides. Process for a few minutes until the ingredients create a creamy and smooth pesto.
- Fresh Basil Pesto will last 5-7 days in the refrigerator, or freeze up to 4 months.
- Enjoy!
We planted one tiny basil plant in April that has taken over our garden. Thanks to you I will now have something to do with all that goodness! ;)
Pinning!
~ Ashley
Yes, basil will take over your garden, but I love it! I hope you enjoy the recipe :) Thank you for stopping by!
I have to make this recipe asap! Looks sooo good.
Thanks, Emily! There is nothing better than fresh garden pesto; I hope you enjoy the recipe :)
I must say that your Pesto recipe is spot on. This is coming from an Italian. Sometime when my Nonnie (grandma) was out of pine nuts, she used walnuts instead, just keep tasting before you put in all the walnuts as they have a much eartheee taste , I would not use a black walnut, use an English nut instead. Thank much for the post, it is good.
Good meeting you,look for your next Recipe.
Made this tonight and it is incredible! I adapted a little. I didn’t have any dried thyme and I drowned my fresh thyme plants earlier this summer. I subbed herbs de provence, and it worked out well. A dearly departed chef friend of my always told me to add a corn cob or two (left after cutting off the fresh corn) to anything like creamed corn or corn chowder, and I think it does make a difference. Thank you!
Oh, crap, I tried two new recipes tonight and responded to the wrong one. LOL! The first was a summer corn chowder and the second was your pesto! The pesto is awesome too! Both are great!
We planted a basil plant a week ago, and it’s gone rampant across the whole planter! Thanks for giving me a recipe to take advantage of this bounty!
I would love it if you would consider sharing this on my weekly Link Up:
http://www.twentysomethinginthe2010s.com/peace-love-linkup-010/
Hope to see you there! : )
I have a huge basil plant in my garden so this recipe came in handy. I got just barely under a pint. I’m going to do another and freeze that one. It would have been a full pint but I ended up just eating some of it right out of the jar.
About how many servings is this recipe?
Hi Tonya, I’m not entirely sure about the serving size. This is my sister’s recipe and she no longer blogs… but I believe it fills a small mason jar, and I believe it was pretty comparable to a commercial size jar. You can always freeze leftovers though and they are good for up to 4 months ; )