Homemade Pesto Sauce

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This pesto sauce is one of my most popular recipes. So delicious and versatile it requires no cooking. I usually make a double or triple batch and keep some in the refrigerator and/or freezer. Dinner is always ready with pasta and pesto available!

Here’s a delicious recipe that you can try with your pesto. It’s a simple, but delicious pesto pasta dish.

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Carla's Pesto Pasta

Serves: Serves 8 people

Ingredients

1 16-ounce box of linguine pasta
2 cups of fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
¼ cup toasted pine nuts (pigneolas)*
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of grape tomatoes, sliced

Instructions

In a large pot, bring 4 to 6 cups of salted water to a boil. Add salt to taste if desired. Add pasta to water and stir gently. Cook for 9 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Place remaining ingredients in a food processor except for olive oil and grape tomatoes. Process until creamy. Slowly add olive oil. Mix pesto sauce with hot pasta, add grape tomatoes and serve.
For refrigeration purposes, place pesto in tightly-fitting jar or container and pour a small amount of olive oil over the top of the pesto sauce to prevent darkening. You can freeze the pesto as well.

Notes

*Optional: You can toast the pine nuts in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, moving constantly to prevent burning. Toasting pine nuts releases the oils, giving the pesto a deeper, richer flavor.

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