I was scanning through my Twitter feed yesterday, and I came across someone (for the life of me, I can’t remember who) looking for a pesto recipe that uses walnuts rather than pine nuts. Well, I am allergic to pine nuts (both the cost and the oils) so a couple of years ago when I had a gigantic basil plant, I tracked down a recipe on simplyrecipes.com that uses walnuts and tastes fantastic!
So, even though that person who needed a recipe will probably not see this…and even though my basil plant this year is wilted and eaten by our rabbits…I couldn’t help but post it for Things I Love Thursday over at The Diaper Diaries!
Fresh Basil Pesto
Ingredients:
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (or Parmesan)
- 1/2 cup EVOO
- 1/3 cup walnuts
- 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions:
Pulse walnuts a few times in a food processor. Combine basil with nuts, pulse a few times more. Add the garlic, pulse again. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the cheese and pulse until blended. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
Extra tip: If you want to freeze the pesto, omit the cheese (it doesn’t freeze well). Line an ice cube tray with plastic wrap, and feel each pocket with pesto. Freeze and then remove from the ice cube tray and store in a freezer bag. When you want to use it, defrost and add in grated Parmesan or Romano.
Yummy! I’ve never used walnuts instead; I will have to try it this weekend since our basil is really in need of picking. There’s nothing like the mix of pesto, tomatoes, Parm, and bread!