• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

My Cooking Journey logo

  • Home
  • Recipes
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Recipes
×

Home » European » Italian » Basil-Pine Nut Pesto / Pesto Alla Genovese

Published: Mar 20, 2015 · Modified: Apr 14, 2020 by Sandhya Ramakrishnan · This post may contain affiliate links

Basil-Pine Nut Pesto / Pesto Alla Genovese

Basil Pesto

Pesto is a sauce that originated in Genoa in the Liguria region of Northern Italy. This is such an aromatic and bright sauce that is not cooked and made with fresh basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and parmesan cheese. The sauce lasts for up to a week in the refrigerator or can be frozen for future use.

The best part of spring and summer is having abundance of basil. We grew a lot of basil in our backyard garden back in NY. But, I have never made pesto before. I always had some reason or other and never made it until this week. I was determined to make pesto for the pasta with different sauces series and hence there began my basil hunt. Spring is not quite here yet, but little did I know that I would end up searching for basil in 3 different stores with no luck. My husband finally had to tell me to stop looking for it and just decide on some other sauce, but I was very reluctant. Finally I found this small pack that hardly had a cup of basil leaves (and was so expensive).

Now with basil and pine nuts in hand, I was all set to make the pesto. But in the back of my mind I kept thinking my little one is definitely not going to eat the pasta when he sees the green sauce and wanted to have a back up. I made some regular marinara for him, just in case!

Pesto is made and I call him for a taste test. He tastes it and is very quiet for a couple of seconds (which feels like forever to me). I am eagerly waiting for him to say, I don’t like it Amma! And then I hear, Mmmm! I LOVE IT.....This is the best sauce you have made in my whole life. I was shocked and dumbfounded and had no words. He ate his whole dinner without a word and when I was editing the pictures tonight, he saw it and said again, this is the best sauce I have ever tasted.

So guess what, my small apartment balcony is going to have a basil plant for sure!

Basil Pesto

Preparation time – 5 minutes
Cooking time – none for the sauce, 20 minutes for pasta
Difficulty level – easy

Ingredients to make Basil-Pine Nut Pesto – serves 3

  • Basil leaves – 1 cup (packed)
  • Pine nuts – 2 tbsp
  • Garlic – 1 clove
  • Extra virgin olive oil – ¼ cup
  • Salt – to taste
  • Freshly grated parmesan cheese – 3 – 4 tbsp
  • Spaghetti – ½ lb

Basil Pesto

Procedure –

  • Place the basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and half of the olive oil in a blender and blend until the mixture is smooth.
  • Add the cheese and the rest of the olive oil and blend until smooth and creamy.

Basil Pesto

  • Meanwhile, cook the pasta based on the package instructions. Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water and then drain the pasta in a colander.
  • Mix half of the pesto with the spaghetti and add few tbsp of reserved pasta water. Add more pesto if needed and serve!
  • The Basil-Pine Nut Pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. If storing, add a thin layer of olive oil on top to prevent discoloration.

Basil Pesto

Post Views: 715
Previous Post: « Pasta Primavera – Spring Vegetable Pasta
Next Post: Oven-Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Barbara J says

    April 24, 2020 at 3:48 pm

    Greetings Sandhya-
    I was so excited to find this recipe - thanks. However, it didn't seem to work as expected. I followed the instructions precisely, but the basil, pine nuts, garlics, salt and half of the olive oil in a blender never got close to smooth and creamy. I added more oil, still didn't make it creamy. In the end it didn't really spread on the pasta, and tasted rather heavy.
    Perhaps you can think of why this might have happened. Was it the "dried" basil leaves? Was it something associated with the pine nuts? Please let me know your thoughts on this, as I so look forward to trying it again.
    Thank you kindly 🙂

    Reply
    • Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      April 27, 2020 at 12:28 pm

      Hi Barbara, thanks for trying the recipe. Did you add cheese? Also we use fresh basil for the recipe. Did you use that or the dried ones? The parmesan cheese does the trick of making the pesto creamy. Give it a try and let me know of you still have any questions.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Sandhya

I am Sandhya Ramakrishnan, author, recipe developer and photographer in this journey! 'My Cooking Journey' is all about family friendly Vegetarian and Vegan recipes from around the World with focus on Indian cuisine.

Learn More about me →

Popular Posts

  • Gozleme | Turkish Spinach and Feta Flatbread
  • Air Fryer Arancini | Italian Rice Balls
  • Aish Baladi | Vegan Egyptian Flatbread
  • Saag Aloo | Vegan Spinach And Potato Curry
  • Boulanee Katchalu | Afghani Bolani | Stuffed Flatbread
  • Xian Bing | Chinese Stuffed Pancake - Vegetarian
  • Norwegian Crisp Bread | Knekkebrød
  • Spicy Roasted Makhana | Roasted Foxnut

Street Foods

  • Koshari | Kushari - Egyptian Street Food
  • Esquites | Creamy Mexican Street Corn Salad
  • Churumuri | Beach Style Masala Pori
  • Indo Chinese Vegetable Fried Rice

Sign Up for Newsletter

Copyright © 2021 · MyCookingJourney LLC
Privacy Policy

Sign Up to Newsletter

We'll keep you in the loop with our latest news and new content that we add at MyCookingJourney.com.

Enjoy the journey with us and share it with your family and friends!