Today a recipe for a dressing: lemon basil pesto.
Making lemon basil pesto is really very simple, just a few steps to obtain a fragrant and fresh cream ideal for seasoning pasta but also for adding flavor to a caprese, homemade ricotta, or to put on a delicious and crunchy bruschetta made with semi-wholemeal bread.
As with Genoese pesto, we will use green basil leaves and Parmesan, to which we add lemon juice and zest, make sure to use those with edible peel, a few walnut kernels, a drizzle of olive oil, and we will have a super dressing ready to be used immediately for a cold pasta with salmon or to be stored in the fridge.
It will take you the time to cook the pasta to prepare an excellent homemade dressing and therefore without preservatives or ‘weird’ ingredients found in ready-made sauces.
Let’s see together, step by step, how to make this recipe.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 3
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Spring, Summer
- Energy 306.08 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 2.14 (g) of which sugars 0.98 (g)
- Proteins 7.54 (g)
- Fat 30.12 (g) of which saturated 5.35 (g)of which unsaturated 15.08 (g)
- Fibers 1.21 (g)
- Sodium 221.98 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 80 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Lemon Pesto
- 2.1 oz basil
- 0.35 oz lemon zest
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1.8 oz walnuts
- 1.8 oz grated Parmesan
- 3.5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pinch fine salt
Tools
- 1 Mixer
Let’s Make Lemon Pesto Together
In the mixer bowl, we put the basil leaves previously washed and dried by patting them with a clean cloth, and add the lemon zest, only the yellow part, and the salt, then give a first quick blend.
Now add the walnut kernels, grated Parmesan, and olive oil, give a quick blend before moving on to the final preparation stage.
At this point, pour in the lemon juice and blend again until you get the desired consistency. If you want it smoother, you can add more olive oil or lemon juice.
The lemon basil pesto is ready to use, can you smell that lemon scent? Take a picture of your pesto and post it on social media tagging me (una riccia che pasticcia on Instagram and Facebook) and show me how you used it. Below you’ll find some FAQs and stars to let me know if you liked the recipe.
A Curly Girl Recommends
You can store lemon basil pesto for a couple of days in the fridge or you can also freeze it in small portions to take out only what you need. If you prefer a more intense lemon flavor, simply increase the amount of citrus slightly but be careful not to overdo it.
P.S. try it on baked or boiled fish….
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Can I add garlic to lemon basil pesto?
Sure, if the taste of garlic doesn’t bother you, you can add half a clove to the amounts I’ve given you.
How can I use lemon basil pesto?
As I mentioned before, you can use lemon pesto to season plain pasta, but also to add to pasta with tuna or to accompany baked or steamed bluefish. It’s also great on a caprese or to flavor a rice salad, perhaps with seafood.
How do you store lemon basil pesto?
If not used immediately, lemon basil pesto can be frozen or placed in sterilized jars and kept in the fridge for a couple of days. In this case, they must be covered with olive oil.
What nuts can be used to make lemon basil pesto?
I used walnuts, but they can be replaced with pine nuts, almonds, or hazelnuts.
