HOMEMADE PESTO

 Pesto is a simple sauce made of fresh Basil leaves, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, garlic, Olive oil, pepper, and salt. Other greens like Spinach or onion greens can also be used. Basil is fragrant and imparts a lot of flavour so is more commonly used. Pinenuts can also be substituted with other nuts like walnut, cashew nut, etc.

I make this Pesto sauce very frequently as I like using it as a dip for finger food, as a spread on toast, and thin it down a bit and use it as a sauce for pasta. This is a simple 5-minute recipe and needs no cooking. Along with the Basil leaves, I have added Onion greens also. This is optional.

The basil leaves I have used here are Italian Basil. The commonly available ones are Italian Basil and Thai Basil. In Tamil, these are called Vibuthi Pachai and are medicinal. 

While you are here also check out my Schezwan sauce recipe which is also a simple 5 minute one.

Here is the recipe for Pesto sauce for you. This does not have a stepwise recipe as it is a simple one.

PREP TIME: 5Mins                                      COOK TIME: 2 Mins

TOTAL TIME: 7 Mins                                COURSE:  SAUCE

CUISINE: WORLD FOOD                        QUANTITY: 100 GM APPROX

AUTHOR: Rajni Ram

Ingredients:

Basil leaves 1 cup 

garlic 3 to 5 cloves

Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup shredded

pepper 1tsp

salt as per taste

Cashew nuts 6 nos

Onion greens one handful finely chopped

Olive oil 1/4 cup or more

  Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a blender except the oil and grind to a coarse paste. Now add half the quantity of oil and blend again. A slightly grainy Pesto tastes better than a smooth one. After grinding transfer to a container and top up with the remaining Olive oil and store. Use as required. Add more oil if required. The green and flavourful sauce is ready.

NOTES:

1. Using other cheese like Cheddar will alter the taste a bit and the consistency will differ. Mozarella is not the preferred cheese for this recipe.

2. For that lovely green colour add other greens like blanched Spinach or Onion greens.

3. Be liberal with the olive oil, and use a good quality olive oil for better flavour.

If you tried this recipe and liked it please comment below. I would love to hear from you. If you have a query about the recipe email us and ill respond as soon as I can.

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