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Jar of fresh basil pesto with walnuts

Fresh Basil Pesto with Walnuts

Here is the best way to make fresh basil pesto with walnuts. Walnuts are a great replacement for pine nuts when making pesto sauce.

Course Appetizer
Cuisine Italian
Keyword basil, Italian, Parmesan cheese, pasta, pesto
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 8 of 2 Tablespoons each
Calories 165 kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fresh basil leaves, firmly packed
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 Tablespoons flat Italian parsley, chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons walnut pieces
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Wash and drain the fresh basil and Italian parsley. Combine the 2 cups fresh basil leaves, 2 cloves minced garlic, 3 Tablespoons chopped Italian parsley, 2 Tablespoons walnut pieces, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a blender.

  2. Pour the 1/2 cup olive oil over the ingredients in the blender.

  3. Whirl in the blender for one to two minutes. You will have to stop the blender occasionally and scrape the sides of the container.

  4. When the ingredients in the blender have become a smooth paste, then pour them into a medium sized bowl.

  5. Add the 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese to the ingredients in the bowl.

  6. Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese.

  7. You can store fresh basil pesto with walnuts in the refrigerator for about one week. As you can see, I prefer to store the pesto in a wide mouth half-pint canning jar with a plastic lid. The wide mouth makes it easier to use a large spoon for serving the pesto.

Recipe Notes

  • You can store fresh basil pesto with walnuts in the refrigerator for about one week. As you can see, I prefer to store the pesto in a wide mouth half-pint canning jar with a plastic lid. The wide mouth makes it easier to use a large spoon for serving the pesto.
  • Can I freeze this homemade pesto? Absolutely! Freezing is the best way to store homemade pesto for a long period of time. You can store pesto in the freezer for up to 6 months. The frozen pesto will taste just as good as when it was fresh. The basil pesto can be stored in the half-pint wide mouth jars mentioned earlier, or you can use these one-pint square plastic containers, which is what I prefer. A single one-pint plastic container will hold two batches of this pesto.