Pesto without Pine Nuts (Quick & Easy)

Pesto without pine nuts is a great pesto alternative for when you don't have
pine nuts on hand, don't want to buy expensive nuts, or you're just trying to
use what's left in your kitchen. Full of fresh and peppery flavor, this pesto is
perfect paired with pastas, soups, salads, and bakes.

Servings: 4 people

Author:

Prep Time
10 minutes

Cook Time
5 minutes

Total Time
15 minutes

Course:

Side Dish

Cuisine:

Italian

Keywords:

quick dip easy Pesto homemade marinara sauce pesto without pine nuts

🧂 Ingredients

4 cups fresh basil leaves

packed
3 cloves garlic

roughly chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsp. lemon juice

or juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup parmesan

grated
½ cup walnuts

roughly chopped
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper

Instructions

1 Start making the pesto by separating the basil leaves from the stems. Discard
the stems. Wash and dry the leaves.
2 Put the basil, garlic cloves, lemon juice, parmesan, walnuts, salt, and pepper
into a food processor and blend together. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down
the sides. Slowly add the olive oil through the feed tube of the food processor.
Or you can stop the food processor, remove the lid, and drizzle in the olive
oil.
3 Blend until smooth.
4 Store the pesto in the fridge. Pour it into a container and cover it with a
layer of olive oil on top to help it last longer.