There’s no turning back once you’ve made your own basil pesto from scratch. The shop-bought equivalent is quite frankly ‘meh’ in comparison. Well, actually … there is no comparison! Home made basil pesto is so good and incredibly easy to throw together. In fact it’s so easy it’s one of my go-to recipes when running cooking courses for children.
And the end result is totally heavenly!
It’s versatile too and I’m going to suggest below some ideas on different ways to eat pesto for those who are after a change from the staple spaghetti and pesto – which I know for many families, mine included, is a life-saver when there’s nothing in the cupboard for supper! It’s also my go-to meal the night before a marathon, usually with a grilled chicken breast on top.

The balance of ingredients in pesto really depends on taste, so donβt worry too much about exact quantities. If you make a big batch it will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge. Just store it in a jam jar, making sure the surface is covered with olive oil before you screw the lid on tightly.
Did you know that in Italy the word ‘pesto’ is a generic term for a sauce made by crushing ingredients into a paste. With my inner linguist nerd-hat on here – pesto is the past participle of the verb ‘pestare’, meaning to crush. The same Latin root ‘pest’ gives us ‘pestle’ as in pestle and mortar!
You can make pesto in a pestle and mortar of course, but I have to say I usually use my Nutribullet – much quicker, although less satisfying.
You’ll find the following ingredients in a classic pesto:
- fresh basil
- fresh garlic
- salt
- extra-virgin olive oil
- Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
- pine nuts
- lemon juice
As I said, the go-to way to use pesto is to toss it with pasta; either spaghetti, trofie pasta, linguini or fusilli, adding a little of the pasta sauce to loosen it up.
Pesto will liven up all sorts of other dishes too though! Try these:
- drizzle onto soups; especially good on minestrone or ribollita, but also delicious on pea soup, tomato soup or my orzo soup with crispy garlic chickpeas
- toss with fresh gnocchi
- stir through steamed broccoli, peas or green beans – especially good if you sprinkle extra pine nuts on top.
- dollop onto griddled or grilled chicken, steak or fish
- use to liven up sandwiches or wraps
- add to a tomato salad, warm butternut squash salad, rice or pasta salads
- drizzle over your pizzas or pimp up your shop bought pizza!
You can play about with ingredients too. I really love making pesto with wild garlic or parsley, for instance. Spinach is good as well. In all cases I still add a little basil. You can experiment with the type of nuts you use – swapping out the pine nuts for walnuts or cashews works nicely. If you want to go really rogue, try adding some roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes or black olives!
In terms of nutrients, pesto actually packs a punch! Pesto is high in unsaturated fat (the healthy one) which you get from the olive oil and the pine nuts. You’ll also get protein from the cheese and nuts, a good dose of fibre (see my YouTube video on gut-friendly fibre-rich foods) and minerals including calcium, potassium and magnesium. And as a bonus, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, and basil are all rich sources of antioxidants!

How To Make Perfect Basil Pesto
Pesto Perfection!
The balance of ingredients in pesto really depends on taste, so donβt worry too much about exact quantities. If you make a big batch it will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge. Just store it in a jam jar, making sure the surface is covered with olive oil before you screw the lid on tightly.

Ingredients
Method
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Pound the basil leaves with the garlic and salt in a pestle and mortar or blend in a food processor.
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Add the pine nuts, pepper and olive oil and pound or process again until the required consistency is achieved
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Stir in the parmesan cheese and add a little lemon juice. The balance of ingredients really depends on taste, so donβt worry too much about exact quantities.
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Spoon the pesto into a jar, and pour over enough olive oil to coat the top. Screw on the lid tightly and refrigerate until you are ready to use it!