Basil Pesto with Almonds: We grow our own basil plants in the garden, and therefore have an abundance of basil. Making this easy pesto recipe solves this quandary, and allows us to have this delightful condiment on hand. It freezes really well, and adds a boost of basil and garlic flavor to anything you use it with.
We always love to make a big batch of this with the harvest from our garden. It's great to make a nice pesto sauce with, on top of pizzas, a simple recipe for a versatile sauce.
Traditional pesto recipes for this versatile condiment utilizes pine nuts for richness and as a binder. Not only are pine nuts expensive, but they are very rich and oily. After experimenting with many different alternatives, we've found that almonds provide the best nutty backbone desired. The real star of the show is fresh basil, and almonds just don't compete as much with it's flavor, and we think that you'll agree.
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Ingredients
Recipes that start with simple ingredients like this one are really treasures.
- Garlic - Fresh, whole cloves are a must for this recipe, the flavor and consistency will not be the same with anything else.
- Almonds - We chose to use roasted almonds with the skin on for a nice, nutty flavor, but raw almonds are fine. Really the only absolute rule here is to not use the salted ones, so the end result isn't too salty.
- Basil - As fresh as possible. The whole point of making this herbaceous condiment is to preserve this delicacy.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil - When making an Italian recipe, why not use Italian extra-virgin olive oil?
- Lemon - The acid provided by the juice brightens and accentuates the flavors, and the zest provides a perfect floral aroma.
- Parmesan Cheese - The king of aged cheeses. Other types can of course be used as a substitute, but this is the classic.
- Salt - The transformative effect of salt is especially pronounced in basil pesto, skipping it makes the flavors somewhat flat.
- Black Pepper - We always prefer fresh ground black pepper.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Step One - Assembly
Peel your garlic cloves, pick the leaves from the basil stems, combine the oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, cheese, salt and pepper, and almonds in your blender cup, (Notes about using a food processor instead to follow).
Add the basil leaves
Step Two - Blending
Process in your blender, pausing to stir the ingredients together. This will assist n creating a smooth texture more quickly and efficiently. The faster this all comes together, the fresher it will taste, and look, (see our "chef tip" below).
Once this vortex appears, and the paste is uniformly pureed, you're done! Package and refrigerate or freeze right away.
Helpful Hint
We like to use our blender for this homemade pesto recipe. We love the smooth paste that it creates, (pesto in Italian translates to the word paste in English). If you would like something more rustic and course, (or if you don't have a blender), a food processor is fine! Just keep in mind that the blades in a food processor will bruise the basil a little more, and therefore will result in a darker green finished product. Shred the cheese, or it will not incorporate well.
Variations
Given that fresh pesto is only really defined culinarily as a paste, the variations on this theme are actually limited only by the imagination.
- Cilantro - this leafy fresh herb can easily be made into a southwestern style condiment, with chilies, lime and cumin, or Asian, with ginger, sesame, and soy.
- Sun dried Tomato - with oregano, walnuts, maybe pecorino cheese, such a great thing, what's not to like?
- Kale - a great way to "sneak" this super-food into your diet, pair it with cashews for a healthful protein kick!
- Different Nuts - you can get great flavor and great texture using all kinds of nuts, traditional pine nuts, or even sunflower seeds are great, and still full of healthy fats, also.
Storage
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to ten days. We usually only refrigerate the amount that we have definite plans for. The rest freezes (and thaws!), incredibly well, (try it in an ice cube tray), so we prefer to do so in small amounts, making it convenient to use whenever we would like.
Chef Tip
For best results, be careful not too process this almond basil pesto for too long. The blender makes a lovely puree very quickly, but letting it go for even a tiny bit past that point can cause the heat from the motor to darken the basil and ruin the vibrant flavors.
More Inspiration
Recipe
Garden Fresh Basil Pesto With Almonds
Equipment
- 1 Blender or food processor
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Chef Knife
- 1 Scale
- 1 Rubber Spatula
- 1 micro plane for zesting the lemons
- 1 citrus juicer a fork works well if you don't have a juicer
- 1 sheet of parchment paper
- 1 Sheet pan
Ingredients
- 10 oz. fresh basil leaves
- 3½ oz. roasted whole almonds
- 3½ oz. cheese parmesan, grated
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 large lemons zested and juiced
- 2 cups olive oil
- 5 large cloves fresh garlic
Instructions
- Remove basil leaves from the stems, peel the garlic, and cut up the Parmesan cheese into small chunks
- Place the almonds on to a parchment paper lined sheet pan, into a preheated 350℉ oven (or toaster oven) for about 12 minutes, when you can smell them they are done. Place to the side to cool
- Juice and zest the lemons into the blender cup or the bowl of the food processor, and add the olive oil
- Add the almonds, garlic cloves, cheese chunks, and salt and black pepper to the oil and lemon juice
- Blend on the crush ice setting for a few minutes, then stop and add the basil leaves
- Continue blending until a smooth paste begins to form
- Once the mixture is smooth stop blending (you may have to add a bit more olive oil to adjust the texture)
- Using a rubber spatula (making sure to get every drop out of the blender cup or processor bowl!) place the pesto into desired containers for storage
Jason says
Love it