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Pesto Sauce

By Christi • March 23, 2014 • Sauces

Pesto-Sauce-2

Homemade pesto sauce changed my world.

I’d been going along my whole life eating jarred pesto sauce, thinking it was pretty delicious… and then one day Brian and I had a cooking day with friends (because that’s what we do for fun) and we made it from scratch.

Oh. My. Word.

I’ve since been on a mission to make all of my friends and family try this amazing culinary creation, and we’ve incorporated pesto sauce into our Christmas dinner tradition – bright green pesto sauce and red tomato-basil sauce with pasta make for a really festive (and tasty) holiday table.

What amazes me most about pesto sauce is how quick and easy it is to make- I made this yesterday for lunch and it only took about 10 minutes. Of course, I also think it is better the next day after flavors have had a chance to mingle, so I typically like to make it the night before and have it ready to go the next day. I always make sure to try a little (ok… a lot) on a slice of bread, though, because it’s the responsible thing to do to taste test your creations before serving them to others, right?

Pesto Sauce
 
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Prep time
10 mins
Total time
10 mins
 
You can tweak this pesto sauce to get it exactly how you like it, which is why I've given you a range of amounts for some of the ingredients. I always start out with smaller amounts of ingredients, then taste, and add until I get it just how I like it (which usually involves adding copious amounts of Parmesan!). This sauce pairs great with hot or cold pasta, is tasty spread on bread and sandwiches, and makes a great base for a variety of pizzas.
Author: Christi
Recipe type: Sauce
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 8-12
Ingredients
  • 2-3 medium cloves of garlic
  • 15-20 basil leaves
  • ½-3/4 cup of olive oil
  • ⅓ cup pine nuts
  • 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup parsley
Instructions
  1. Using a food processor, combine the garlic, basil, and pine nuts.
  2. Add ¼ cup of olive oil to the mixture, then add the Parmesan cheese.
  3. As you blend the mixture, stream in olive oil a little at a time until you get the sauce to be smooth but not runny; generally about ½ cup total, but if you like your sauce a little thinner you can use up to ¾ cup.
  4. Add salt, blend and taste; add more salt to taste as needed, but be conservative.
  5. Add parsley, blend, and do one more taste.
  6. Pour sauce into a small bowl and store in refrigerator until you're ready to use it.
3.2.2310

 

 

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Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad

About the Author

Christi

Christi is a graphic designer by day, and a foodie by... well, all the time. She and her husband Brian love to cook and bake together, and their three kids often get in on the fun, too.

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2 Comments

  • Reply Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad | Food&Fam March 24, 2014 at 3:05 pm

    […] we talked about homemade pesto sauce and how it changed my life. Today I thought I’d share one of my favorite uses for the sauce […]

  • Reply Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce Recipe | Food&FamFood&Fam April 23, 2014 at 10:51 am

    […] us that, so we especially love it! And when we’re having pasta, we typically either make pesto sauce or this lovely tomato basil pasta […]

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