Fresh Pesto Sauce For Pasta

Name: FRESH PESTO SAUCE
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 cup fresh basil leaves, tightly packed; 1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves, tightly packed; 1 cup parmesan cheese; ½ cup extra virgin olive oil; ½ cup walnuts or pine nuts (I like using walnuts); 4 large garlic cloves; ¼ cup fresh lemon juice; ½ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

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Fresh pesto sauce is so easy to make, full of cheesy, herbaceous flavor, and so versatile. It also keeps well in your refrigerator or freezer.

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This pesto is amazing on pasta, of course. But it works wonderfully when spooned over chicken breasts and baked, as a dip for bread, as a base for pizza or bruschetta, slathered on roasted veggies, even as a condiment for scrambled eggs.

WHAT DO I NEED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE?

Fresh basil and fresh baby spinach – Basil is a pretty strong flavor. I like a more subtle basil flavor and the spinach rounds out the sauce.
Parmesan cheese – buy the best quality cheese that you can find/afford and grate it yourself.
Extra virgin olive oil – this adds lots of flavor, so use good quality oil.
Walnuts – classic pesto uses pine nuts, but I had walnuts on hand and they were delicious. You can toast them for a nutty flavor, but it isn’t required.
Garlic
Lemon juice – this will help keep your pesto a bright green color and add a bright note to the sauce.
Salt and pepper

HOW DO I STORE PESTO?

I like to spoon my pesto into a mason jar with a tight lid. Before I screw on the lid, I drizzle a little extra olive oil on top to ‘seal’ the pesto and help keep it from oxidizing. It’ll keep in your fridge for a week, maybe two…but I doubt it will last that long.

CAN I FREEZE THE PESTO?

Yes! I’ve read that you should leave the cheese out of the recipe if you’re planning on freezing it, but I’ve frozen the sauce with the cheese and it worked beautifully.

The same mason jar that you store your pesto in the fridge also works in the freezer. Again, drizzle olive oil over the top before freezing.
You can store smaller amounts in ice cube trays. This is great if you use a spoonful of pesto in other recipes.

Thaw your frozen pesto in the refrigerator.

MAKE IT A MEAL

Boil a pound of spaghetti and bake up a batch of perfectly moist chicken breasts. Toss the pasta and sliced chicken with the pesto for a delicious dinner.

Serve it alongside an Italian Aperol Spritz, Goat Cheese Caprese Bruschetta, and a Classic Tiramisu for a sweet finish.