Make your own homemade pesto with basil and pistachio in 5 minutes. The pistachios give this pesto a unique flavor you can’t resist.
I love pistachios, what about you? It’s my favorite ice cream flavor, seasoning for salads, decoration for Christmas cookies, and topping for tiramisu. After daydreaming about what else I could make from pistachios, my own pistachio pesto dream came true. Their crunchiness, rich flavor, and green and purple color are perfect for making pesto.
All you need to make the perfect pesto
If you know how to make a classic pesto, this variation is super easy. Classic pesto is made with pine nuts, parmesan, fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, pepper and salt, and a squeeze of lemon. All you need to do is change the pine nuts for pistachios. An important tool to make the best pesto is a good blender or a food processor. I recommend using a food processor because a blender can make the pesto too smooth. Pesto shouldn’t be completely smooth but rather rough. Of course, if you don’t own this equipment you can also make pesto with a mortar and pestle or with a hand blender.
How to make pistachio pesto
First, prepare all your ingredients starting by peeling the pistachios. Grate the parmesan cheese and strip the garlic. Add all the ingredients to the blender and pulse until you have a rough spread. Taste and adjust until you have the flavor you prefer. Add some more basil if you want the pesto to be more green, some more lemon for freshness, and pepper and salt for extra flavor.
How to store homemade pesto?
It’s recommended to make a double batch, cause this pistachio pesto is just too good to not finish and that would be a shame. The best way is to store the pesto in a jar that is covered with a lid. Even better if it’s airtight. In the fridge, you can keep it for a week. If you want to keep the pesto for longer you can freeze it for about 6 months. Pesto can be used as a sauce for pasta, as a dip for crackers, to flavor your sandwich, toast, pizza, roasted pumpkins or add a spoon to your tomato soup!
Pistachio Pesto Dream
Equipment
- Philips HR7629 Food Processor
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup pistachios
- 2-3 cups basil
- ½ cup grated pramesan cheese
- ½ squeezed lemon
- 2 cloves of garlic
- pepper and seasalt to taste
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a food processor or blender.
- Blend until everything is well combined and you have a rough spread.
- Taste if you are happy with the flavor and adjust with one more squeeze of lemon, basil or pepper and salt to make this pesto exactly how you want!
