Having a failproof recipe for pesto in your back pocket is the key to many a last-minute dinner. Of course you can toss pesto with pasta for a classic meal that always hits the spot, but it also adds a savory burst of flavor to sandwiches, pizza, salads, and frittatas, such as this Pesto Potato Frittata with Peas and Goat Cheese. And yes, you can always lean on store-bought pesto in a pinch (our favorite is Buitoni Pesto with Basil, which is sold refrigerated in a tub instead of a shelf-stable jar), but nothing beats the fresh vibrancy of pesto from scratch.
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Weeknight cooking inspiration, curated and written by longtime ATK author and editor (and avid home cook) Jack Bishop.
Luckily, we’ve engineered the perfect pesto recipe for you. It’s easy to make, but a few crucial details take the pesto from good to great. These are the key steps that make our recipe stand above the rest.
- Blanch the basil in boiling salted water for just a couple seconds to preserve the verdant color, and then drain it completely.
- Toast the pine nuts in a little olive oil instead of a dry skillet for more even, thorough browning and more developed nutty flavor.
- Use a food processor to grind Parmesan into tiny nubs, and stir them into the pesto so that they retain their texture.
You can even make our pesto in advance to set yourself up for future weeknight dinner triumph. To prevent the pesto from discoloring, transfer it to a pint container and cover it with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Then, refrigerate it for up to two days or freeze it for up to one month.
Perfect Pesto
An extra step pays outsize dividends in this recipe for a classic summertime sauce.
Get the RecipeRepeat all summer long.
