The best basil pesto

The Italian classic with basil, Parmesan & pine nuts

The best basil pesto

The best basil pesto

Serves 6
Cooks In5 minutes
DifficultySuper easy
Nutrition per serving
  • Calories 147 7%
  • Fat 14.2g 20%
  • Saturates 2.9g 15%
  • Sugars 0.4g 0%
  • Salt 0.5g 8%
  • Protein 4.4g 9%
  • Carbs 1.6g 1%
  • Fibre 0.3g -
Of an adult's reference intake
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Recipe From

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By Jamie Oliver
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Ingredients

  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 large bunch of fresh basil , (40g)
  • 50 g pine nuts
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 50 g Parmesan
  • optional:
  • 1 cooked Jersey Royal or new potato
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Foodtube
Recipe From

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By Jamie Oliver
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Method

  1. Peel and bash the garlic in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of sea salt.
  2. Pick the basil leaves and add with the pine nuts, and pound to a coarse paste.
  3. Muddle in the extra virgin olive oil and finely grate and stir in the Parmesan, adding a splash of water if you like it a little runnier, then continue bashing and pounding until smooth.
  4. Have a taste and season with salt and black pepper, if needed. For a lovely creamy finish, try crumbling in and stirring through a cooked Jersey Royal. Serve with grilled meat or fish, or simply stirred through pasta – delicious!

Tips

If you don’t have a pestle and mortar, you can use a blender or food processor instead.

ALTERNATIVE FLAVOUR COMBOS:
– Use half basil and half rocket, replace the pine nuts with walnuts, and use pecorino instead of Parmesan to keep things veggie.
– Swap out pine nuts for almonds and basil for rocket.
– Use hazelnuts in place of pine nuts and replace basil with flat-leaf parsley.
– Go for an Asian vibe and use cashews, coriander and a squeeze of lime.

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Foodtube
Recipe From

Foodtube

By Jamie Oliver
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