Pesto doesn’t really require a recipe, but here’s a place to start. Sometimes I want it thinner, so I add more olive oil or even a splash of water. I vary the nuts, depending on the herb, though even with basil I’m just as liable to use walnuts as pine nuts. I almost always add a little spinach to the food processor to make the pesto a beautiful bright green. In the case of cilantro, it’s necessary to give the fine-leafed herb enough body; when using arugula, the spinach tames the bite but still lets the pleasant bitterness come through.

Basic Basil Pesto

Ingredients

2 cups loosely packed basil leaves, tough stems discarded

½ cup loosely packed baby spinach leaves

¼ cup pine nuts or walnuts (see note)

1 clove garlic

Juice of half a lemon

Pinch of kosher salt

¼-1/2 cup olive oil

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions

Add basil, spinach, nuts, garlic, lemon juice and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until fine. Pour in ¼ cup of olive oil in a fine stream through top; add cheese and briefly process until mixed. If texture is how you like it, do nothing. If you want it thinner, add more oil. Note: Lightly toast the nuts in a dry pan over medium heat and allow them to cool before use.

Riffs:

For Arugula-Spinach Pesto, substitute 1 cup arugula and one cup baby spinach for the basil; follow the rest of the recipe.

For Cilantro Pesto, substitute 1 cup firmly packed cilantro and 1 cup baby spinach for the basil. I use pistachios or pepitas (don’t add salt until you taste) and I leave out the cheese. Sometimes I add about half a jalapeno pepper, too. 

Serve any on pasta, spread on toasted bread, stirred in a soup, added to an omelet – the possibilities go on. You can freeze pesto in Mason jars for at least six months. Ladle in jars and cover with a thin layer of olive oil before freezing to keep it fresh.

And finally, here’s a link to a Tasty recipe for Thai Basil Pesto. Thai basil is one of my favorite herbs and it’s not that easy to find, so I preserve it for freezing as it grows. Stir a spoonful in a bowl of tom yum soup, yuan bao from Mosa or just good chicken stock and bye-bye, winter sniffles.

Source: Jennifer Biggs