Homemade Nut Free Basil Pesto

There are many ways of making pesto. You can use a different herb instead of basil, you can use pine nuts, walnuts or no nuts! It can be sweet or it can be savoury. I personally love mine savoury, creamy and nut free so I can share the love with everyone!

Making pesto may seem intimidating but I promise you it’s not. The main appliance you’ll need is a food processor or a high speed blender; other than that, you should have everything else to prepare this sauce! You probably won’t want to buy pesto after trying this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of tightly packed basil

½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded

½ cup olive oil

½ shallot (large) or 1 small shallot, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

Juice of ½ lemon

Salt n’ pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Pre-chop your shallot and garlic into small pieces. They don’t have to be perfectly minced as the food processor will take care of that. Just make them small enough to blend. Pre-shred your parmesan cheese.

Add all of your ingredients except for the olive oil into a food processor. Process until everything is well blended and finely chopped. You may have to occasionally scrap the sides of the processor to ensure all your ingredients are being blended properly.

Once everything is blended continue to have your blender on while you gradually pour in the olive oil. I recommend using something that will allow you to gradually pour the oil in and not pouring the entire amount in at once. If you don’t pour the oil in gradually, it won’t blend properly. Try to use something with a spout or lip that will allow for a gentle, gradual pour.

That’s literally it! After the last drop of oil, I just leave it to blend for another few seconds and your pesto sauce is ready!

This recipe yields about 12 oz of pesto sauce.

I typically use my pesto sauce in a pasta dish with Penne noodles, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken breast and heavy cream. I try to replicate a pasta dish from my favourite Italian restaurant. Of course it will never taste exactly like it but it sure does hit the spot!