Pesto is a delicious addition to chicken, sandwiches, and pasta.

I love Pesto.  Perfect on pasta and pizza, chicken and sandwiches, fresh basil pesto is even better when you make it at home.  You will want to give my pesto recipe a try.

I have spent the last few weeks in France.  The first week I stayed at a 13th century chateau.  My room overlooked the kitchen garden.  It was just outside the kitchen door and I loved how you could just take a few steps and clip a few fresh herbs to add to whatever you were making in the kitchen!  There is nothing like cooking with fresh herbs.

One of my favorites, that I keep outside in my herb garden is basil.  Not only do I like adding it to various dishes but when my plants get big and I have an overabundance of basil I make pesto!

Pesto is traditionally made with a combination of fresh basil, olive oil, Parmesan cheese and pine nuts.  But I prefer to use walnuts in my homemade pesto recipe.  Not only do I prefer the taste, but walnuts are a lot less expensive than pine nuts.  That is what I call win-win!

You can always buy your pesto at the store, but it is so easy to make and tastes so much better!  If you don’t have fresh basil growing in your garden, you can purchase it in your produce section.

This recipe is so easy because you just throw all of the ingredients into the food processor at the same time.  And then hit pulse!

It is that quick and easy.  It is then ready to use on all kinds of fun things.

Some of the favorites I have shared here on the blog before are Pesto Chicken,  Chicken Pesto Pizza, Tomato Pesto and Mozzarella Tart, Flatbread Pizza, Baked Ziti with Spinach and Sausage, Basil Tomato Tart and Pasta with Pesto and Sundried Tomatotes.  Just a few recipes to get you started!

Pesto Recipe

4.34 from 3 votes

Pesto

Recipe From: Leigh Anne Wilkes

Pesto is a delicious addition to chicken, sandwiches, and pasta.

serves: 4 servings

Prep:10 minutes minutes

Total:10 minutes minutes

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Ingredients

• ▢ 2 C fresh basil leaves removed from steams
• ▢ 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• ▢ 1/2 C walnuts
• ▢ 1- 1/2 C olive oil
• ▢ 1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in blender except olive oil and blend on high until smooth.
• Add in olive oil until the pesto is the right consistency. Should run off spatula.
• It if is too thick add some extra olive oil.

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 868kcal (43%) Carbohydrates: 2g (1%) Protein: 7g (14%) Fat: 94g (145%) Saturated Fat: 14g (88%) Cholesterol: 11mg (4%) Sodium: 484mg (21%) Potassium: 115mg (3%) Fiber: 1g (4%) Vitamin A: 740IU (15%) Vitamin C: 2.1mg (3%) Calcium: 174mg (17%) Iron: 1.4mg (8%)

* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only. Read full disclosure here.

Course:Side Dish

Cuisine:Italian

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If you don’t use all the pesto up right away a great way to save it for future use is to fill up an ice cube tray with the pesto, freeze it and then pop the cubes out and into a freezer bag.  You can then just use them later in soup, pasta or any of the other recipes I just listed.