Toasted Walnut Pesto

May 27, 2019 | Dinner, Kitchen Tips, Recipes, Sides, Sauces, & Extras

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Pesto could easily be one of my favorite sauces to both make and eat. It’s so simple, with only a few ingredients but the flavor is amazing. I love having this with pasta, on pizza, baked chicken or fish, added to salad dressings, as a dipping sauce, and so much more like our healthy Personal Chicken Pesto Pizza recipe! This pesto recipe uses toasted walnuts instead of pine nuts, crushed red pepper to give a little heat, and lemon juice to help it retain it’s brilliant green color.

We like the change the kind of basil we use depending on what we are growing in the garden. You can use traditional sweet basil which will be readily available at the grocery store, we used a 75% sweet basil/ 25% Thai basil combination for this recipe. When making this recipe the key is to use high quality ingredients, especially with the olive oil and Parmesan cheese since any lower quality ingredients will be evident in the final product.

Toasted Walnut Pesto

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Course: Miscellaneous
Servings: 15 Servings
Calories: 250kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ cup walnuts
  • ½ lemon
  • 10 cloves garlic
  • cup fresh basil
  • cup olive oil high quality
  • tsp salt
  • 2 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1 tsp pepper freshly ground
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Lay walnuts on sheet pan and bake for 5-7 minutes, until slightly toasted. Let cool.
  • Clean basil and dry. We like using a salad spinner to dry the basil because it prevents bruising to the leaves.
  • Add juice of ½ lemon, walnuts, and garlic cloves to blender and blend well. Add basil and slowly add oil while blending. Stop when all ingredients are fully incorporated. Add crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper, blend for 2-3 seconds. Add Parmesan cheese and blend. Store in air tight container with small layer of olive oil on top to help preserve green color.

Notes

Pesto freezes very well so it makes a perfect recipe to make in bulk when basil is in season and portion it for later use.  I use a silicon ice cube tray to freeze individual portions of pesto that I can grab when needed.  Simply spray tray with non-stick spray, add pesto, then add a small layer of oil on top.  Put in a freezer bag or seal with plastic wrap, let freeze, then remove and add to a freezer bag for storage.  You can held the pesto for up to 6 months in the freezer.
Basil leaves weigh about 25 grams per cup when removed from the stem.  I like weighing basil instead of putting it in a measuring cup because the compacting will cause the basil to bruise and turn black.  This recipe uses about 60 grams of basil.

Nutrition

Serving: 3tbsp | Calories: 250kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 344mg | Potassium: 53mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 340IU | Vitamin C: 3.2mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Love all kinds of pesto? Us too! Check out our Roasted Jalapeno Pesto Recipe! It has all the delicious flavor of regular pesto with a nice smoky taste and a little kick!

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Hello everyone! My name is Angie Mallery, and I’m the proud founder of Wicked Handy. This blog is my playground for sharing everything that makes life more joyful and practical—from crafting and cooking to gardening and DIY projects. I’m thrilled you’re here and hope you find inspiration and enjoyment in what I love to do. Thank you for visiting!

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