I found a recipe for a casserole to use up the last of our frozen turkey. The recipe calls for a jar of pesto. As I am getting more proficient in the kitchen, I thought I would tackle making pesto from scratch. Pine nuts, traditional in pesto, are expensive. We are watching our budget, so I wanted to use the walnuts we already had instead. I looked on the internet for ideas. I based this recipe on one I found on BlessThisMess.com.
Homemade Walnut Pesto
2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup walnuts
2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan – I used a combination of pecorino and parmesan this time
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
zest of one lemon
While I gathered ingredients, Chris toasted the walnuts. I appreciated that because I was nervous about burning them. I put the basil, garlic cloves, toasted walnuts, cheese, salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup olive oil into the food processor. I pulsed the blade until the mixture blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. I added another 1/4 cup of olive oil and continued pulsing until the texture was in between a sauce and a paste.
Chris and I agreed the texture wasn’t perfect so we decided to continue blending it with the immersion blender instead of the food processor. We added another two tablespoons of olive oil to get the right consistency. The original recipe called for 1/3 cup of cheese, but we felt it needed more, so added another 1/3 cup. Chris thought it would be nice to add lemon zest as well.
The original recipe used two to three garlic cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I used three cloves but found that to be a little too harsh. I also thought it was a touch salty. The next time I will only use two cloves of the garlic and start with half the salt, adjusting it as needed. The lemon was an excellent addition, not only rounding out the saltiness but, while not a noticeable flavor in the pesto, left me with just a hint of lingering lemon essence.
Your pesto looks fabulous! How was the casserole? You’ve definitely piqued my interest. 🙂
I put walnuts in mine as well! I love pesto!!!
I love all the fresh ingredients! Looks just perfect!
This pesto looks delicious! I was gonna just make some regular basil today but I think I have a change of plans now haha
I love homemade pesto but I have never made it walnuts only pine nuts. But Walnuts sound good.
This sounds yummy! I love the idea of using walnuts instead of pine nuts!
I just froze a bunch of sundried tomato & basil pesto this weekend using pine nuts but still have more basil, so i think I’ll try your recipe too! Sounds great with walnuts and lemon zest!
Never thought of adding walnuts, looks amazing!
This looks so wonderful and I bet robust flavors are provided!
Maybe someday we can swap some of each other’s pesto – this looks so good. The extra cheese sounds very flavorful and I love a walnut pesto.
It looks so fresh and light. I am not a huge pesto fan but it doesn’t look too bad.
I love pesto with so many things and this fresh recipe is amazing.
Is there a printable version?
I haven’t figured out how to do that yet. It’s on my endless list of things to work on.
I chose your recipe from the many on Pinterest based in your picture – it looks like the perfect pesto!
Winging it is so far outside my comfort zone, but I guess Chris knew what he was doing in “forcing” me to do so. It turned out so much better than I expected.
Hi. I added an extra 1/2 cup of oil and the juice of half a lemon with the zest. Mmmm.
That’s the beauty of cooking. You can adjust as you like and come up with a masterpiece.