Authentic Italian Homemade Basil Pesto recipe made with basil, garlic, cheese, pine nuts, and olive oil. This will be your favorite pesto recipe once you try it, no more store bought pesto! Plus you can make it in less than 10 minutes!
Y’all, I love me some pesto. Luckily I passed down the pesto-loving gene to my three boys. Since they were babies they have gobbled up anything with pesto-veggies, pasta, bread. If I add pesto, they’ll love it! Especially when it’s my very favorite authentic Italian homemade pesto recipe. If you haven’t made this pesto yet, get ready for a treat!
Years ago my husband was stationed in northern Italy and it was an amazing experience. We didn’t have children yet and were able to travel all over Italy and various other spots in Europe in between his deployments. Just looking at those pictures makes me miss it so much…
Anywho, I have a behemoth of a basil plant out on the front porch so I thought it was about time to harvest some basil and whip up some pesto. And of course, I had to blog the recipe since it was given to me by an Italian friend which therefore makes it authentic Italian as well as super tasty! So without further ado:
How to Make Basil Pesto
It couldn’t be easier to make your own homemade pesto. All you will need is a food processor and a few minutes!
Remove the stems from your fresh pesto and add it to the food processor along with garlic, cheeses, pine nuts, and olive oil. Then you simply pulse until you get the desired consistency. I find that after pulsing a few times, about 30 seconds of continuous processing on high gives me the perfect basil pesto!
Basil Pesto Ingredients
- fresh basil leaves
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- freshly grated Romano cheese
- garlic
- pine nuts
- olive oil
Tips for this Homemade Basil Pesto
- Fresh is best for this recipe, I prefer fresh basil, freshly grated cheeses, and fresh garlic. Pregrated cheeses and jarred garlic can be used in a pinch, however.
- Add additional olive oil if necessary to adjust to your desired consistency.
- If you can’t find pine nuts, walnuts are an easy substitution in a pinch.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper if desired.
- Store in an airtight container for up to three days. Pesto will brown if exposed to air so wrap tightly with plastic touching the top surface to avoid discoloration.
You might also enjoy my best Lasagna Recipe (which includes pesto!), Easy Pasta Carbonara, and Mushroom Risotto Recipe.
If you’ve tried this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you! You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to see more delicious recipes and life updates.
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Homemade Pesto Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: sauce
- Method: food processor
- Cuisine: italian
Description
Authentic Italian Homemade Basil Pesto recipe made with basil, garlic, cheese, pine nuts, and olive oil. This will be your favorite pesto recipe once you try it, no more store bought pesto! Plus you can make it in less than 10 minutes!
Ingredients
- 30–40 basil leaves
- 30 g (~ ⅔c) Romano Cheese
- 30g (~½c) Parmesan Cheese
- 1 clove garlic
- Pinch of salt
- 200ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 30g (~¼c) pine nuts
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until desired consistency.
Keywords: homemade pesto
MacKenzie says
It was wonderful!!
★★★★★
Charlotte says
This recipe looks delicious and easy! I can’t wait to try it. Just a quick question regarding the pine nuts: do you have to heat them up/ “cook” them first? Or just blend them in raw?
Melissa says
Just blend them in raw Charlotte!
Alisha says
I love Pesto!!! I can’t wait to try this recipe. TFS!! Stopping by from Serenity Now linky party and your newest follower on FB, Linky and Pinterest.
Here is what I shared this week: https://craftybrooklynarmywife.blogspot.ca/2012/09/another-fur-baby-coat.html
Jessi @ Practically Functional says
Oh yum, that looks almost exactly like the recipe we use for pesto (except we only use parmesan, no romano). I bet it’s fabulous! Thanks for sharing at The Fun In Functional!
Karen @ BakingInATornado says
SO easy. Who knew? Perfect for a night when I need a quick dinner. I’m here from the hop, glad I found you. Thanks for sharing the ease of pesto.
Gwen says
Pesto is the BEST!!! I just wish I could grow some Basil…
Inspire Me Heather says
Um, I think I have to make this today!!! Thank you, you saved dinner tonight and my family gets to have something good!
Meg says
Yum! I was just looking at my basil plants and wanting to make pesto yesterday! Now I have an “authentic” recipe. Just got to get some pine nuts!
Courtenay says
Yum! And pesto is one of the things my husband will actually eat! I find pine nuts here to be crazy expensive. What are they like there? Might have to add that to my cross-border shopping list.
Cecilia says
Try pumpkin seeds, no shell on. Ive done this on several recipe that called for pine, it works great
Melissa says
I’ll give that a try next time I make it, thanks for the suggestion! ~Melissa