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- By Michelle Minnaar
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Give your food a healthy kick with a dab of this homemade pesto. It's even vegan friendly!
Before an Italian nonna hounds me with the intention of clobbering me with the handle of her pasta roller, I'd freely admit this isn't an authentic pesto recipe. The latter would contain pine nuts instead of pistachios and if you check out the recipe below, you'll notice that parmesan cheese is missing. Vegans use nutritional yeast instead of cheese. It still tastes fabulous though!
Preparing pesto is a doddle. Simply place all the ingredients in a food processor or Froothie and give it a blitz to your desired consistency. If you'd like the mixture to me sloppier, add more oil. Tweak the recipe to suit your taste.
Apparently, there is a difference in taste depending on which method you use. The traditional way is with pestle and mortar and if you have the time give it a go. For those of us who are rushed off our feet on a daily basis, modern day machinery will just have to do.
Embarrassingly, I've let fresh herbs go to waste more than I can count. It's a shame because it needn't be the case. It takes five minutes to make a batch of pesto and do you want to know a little secret? You can freeze the stuff. In this case I froze little portions in an ice tray and afterwards put them in a resealable bag in the freezer, which proves to be especially handy when I just need one or two portions.
The beauty of freezing ingredients is that the subzero temperature locks in the freshness. So when the time comes to thaw, the produce will be in just as good condition as before it was frozen. This is what Dr. Oetker Ristorante conveyed mid-March 2015 when it constructed a pizzeria comprising 34 huge blocks of ice, using 3,400 litres of water outside Liverpool Street station in London. In their own words, "freezing pauses fine ingredients at the peak of perfection and suspends them there until the moment you're ready to enjoy them".
So you made a big batch of pesto. Don't know what to do?
Love Italian Food? Check out these cookbooks!
- Nigellissima: Instant Italian Inspiration
- Pronto! Let's cook Italian in 20 minutes
- Gino's Pasta: Everything You Need to Cook the Italian Way
- Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen
21 Ways to Use Pesto
- Mix it with pasta.
- Mix it in with rice.
- Spread it on meat.
- Make a dip, by stirring it into mayonnaise or yogurt.
- Use it in a sandwich.
- Instead of using a tomato base on your pizza, use pesto.
- Garnish your soup.
- The secret ingredient of a salad dressing.
- Top your omelette or scrambled eggs with pesto.
- Bake it in your bread.
- Toss cooked vegetables in it.
- Make great little canapés like I did: Slices of bread slathered with cream cheese and topped with pesto. Alternative: Smear baguette slices with pesto and top with mozzarella slices.
- Potato mash with a twist.
- Use it as a marinade.
- Use it in a stew, it goes spectacularly well with chicken.
- If you have stale bread lying around, blend it with pesto to make breadcrumbs and top fish with it.
- Stir it into couscous.
- Add it to your meatball or burger patty mixture.
- Mix it with butter.
- Spoon it onto corn on the cob.
- Instead of butter use pesto to enjoy with baked sweet potatoes.
Did I miss anything? What is your favourite way to use pesto?
📖 Recipe
Basil & Pistachio Pesto
- Author: Michelle Minnaar
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Can you make pesto with pistachios? Yes! Check out this UK-based pistachio pesto with basil recipe that is vegan and utterly delicious. You won't regret it!
Ingredients
UnitsScale
- 250ml (1 cup) shelled pistachios, natural and unsalted
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 60g (2oz) basil, washed
- 1 lime, juiced
- 125ml (¼ cup) olive oil
- season to taste
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until desired consistency.
- Place in fridge or freeze in portions.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Blending
- Cuisine: Italian
More Vegan
- Persian Eggplant Stew
- Butter Bean Mash
- Korma Curry Paste
- Air Fryer Pancakes Recipe
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Donna
I see the kcal count as 168...is this for the whole recipe...or just a serving of the 8 servings? What measurement for a serving would it be? Thank you for any insight...This looks 'beyond' yum...This 'greedy gourmet' in Lyon, France really appreciates your creativity...love that it is dairy-free as well! Bravo!
Reply
Michelle Minnaar
Hello fellow, Greedy Gourmet!
The calorie count stated is per portion. I've started using new nutritional analysis software and recalculated the values, so it is now serves 10 at 176 kcal per portion. Weight-wise, the pesto weighs around 435g, divided by 10, which makes it just below 45g per portion. I would say a serving size is around 30ml (2 tbsp), because of the sauce's density.
Hope that helps!
Elizabeth
Delicious flavor! Our pesto came out pretty thick though.
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RoyS
I love your pesto recipe here ~
However 60 g. of basil is not 30 oz. ~ It's closer to 2 ounces ~<3
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michelle
Thanks so much for pointing out my typo, Roy. All fixed!
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Renil M. George
i love italian food,
★★★★★
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michelle
Me too 🙂
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Abi
Very delicious recipe and very simple to make
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Natalie Crossan
with pasta 🙂
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Claire Davies
I use it when I make quiches and pizzas - pesto is so versatile I always have a jar in the cupboard or fridge!
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frances hopkins
On pasta x
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Kavey
Your photos just pop, beautiful fresh green!
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mad sad
me too I love pesto on baked cheese bread
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Kim M
Love it to perk up a pizza
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laura banks
my hubby makes something involving scallops but not sure what he does
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Holly E
I love pesto on baked cheese bread.
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kellyjo walters
on pasta
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kellyjo walters
on pasta
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Suzanne Jackson
Haven't been too adventurous with pesto, sadly. Usually just have it in tagliatelle with tuna and mayo or as a pizza base. 🙂
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Jen
I love pesto, I'm also bad at letting herbs go to waste, need to get in the habit of whizzing up and freezing as pesto as it's so versatile.
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Jen
I love pesto, I'm also bad at letting herbs go to waste, need to get in the habit of whizzing up and freezing as pesto as it's so versatile.
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Sarah (@tamingtwins)
I didn't know you could freeze pesto! Every day's a school day. Beautiful photos, I must try pesto in my Froothie soon.
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Tracy Nixon
I love it with chicken, pine nuts and pasta!
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Tracy Nixon
I love it with chicken, pine nuts and pasta!
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Kate @ Veggie Desserts
I LOVE the sound of pistachio pesto - despite Nonna's traditions! And that is a great list of ideas for pesto.
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Tracey Peach
On Fresh Crusty Bread xxx
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Jo of Jo's Nursery
Lots of lovely ideas for Pesto here. Great photos too. I must try it!
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Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours
I made a very similar pistachio pesto last year. Love the addition of lime in yours, and I think I'd be tempted to put the nutritional yeast in!
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Heather Haigh
I love pesto as a pizza topping.
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Kirsty Fox
I use pesto when I make a pizza.
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Kirsty Fox
I use pesto when I make a pizza.
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nazima
ahh I love pesto. Though have to admit don't make it as often as I should mainly because I always overlook the idea of freezing it - which I will do. I made some wild garlic pesto last year that I'd really like to repeat. Nice tips on what to do with pesto. SO versatile!
★★★★★
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nazima
ahh I love pesto. Though have to admit don't make it as often as I should mainly because I always overlook the idea of freezing it - which I will do. I made some wild garlic pesto last year that I'd really like to repeat. Nice tips on what to do with pesto. SO versatile!
★★★★★
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