This pistachio pesto comes together in 5 minutes flat and delivers a buttery, herby twist on the classic. One food processor, 5 ingredients: inspired by a trip to Sicily!
My parents texted me from Sicily raving about a pistachio pesto pasta they ate had on their trip to Italy. So of course the first thing I said was: let’s figure out how to make it!
I wasn’t sure how different pistachio pesto would taste from my classic basil pesto recipe, but after making it I found pistachios bring this buttery richness that makes it taste absolutely irresistible. I recently slathered it onto this Skillet Pesto Salmon and honestly, it was one of the best things that’s come out of my kitchen in a while! Here are all my secrets.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Way better than store-bought: Most jarred pesto has a bitter or acidic flavor to me. This pesto tastes incredible!
- Uses only 1 to 2 handfuls of basil: Some pesto recipes use your entire plant! This one just needs a handful.
- Endlessly versatile: Pasta, grain bowls, salmon, sandwiches, pizza: it works with everything!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Roasted salted pistachios: This is the most important thing for this recipe. Raw pistachios are great but lack depth. Roasted salted have just the right amount of flavor! If you can’t find them, you can certainly use raw pistachios and add salt after. if you have time, you could also try roasting them first (spread them on a baking sheet and roast at 300-350°F for 8–15 minutes until fragrant, stirring halfway).
- Garlic: This is a classic pesto ingredient and adds just the right savory flavor: don’t skip it!
- Fresh basil: Fresh is non-negotiable! Luckily, this recipe won’t use your entire supply.
- Parmesan cheese: This adds just the right savory depth. For vegan, try my vegan pesto but with pistachios.
- Extra virgin olive oil: This is the key to a great pesto! Adjust the quantity based on the texture you’d like.
How to Make Pistachio Pesto
Making pistachio pesto uses the same technique as my basil pesto: just slightly different ingredients. Here’s the breakdown:
- Pulse the pistachios and garlic first. A few pulses until they’re crumbly.
- Add the basil. Pulse a few times to incorporate. Try not to overprocess.
- Add parmesan, then stream in the oil. With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil slowly. This emulsifies everything together, adding more oil if you’d like a thinner consistency.
Keep in mind: The color is a little more brown than the standard basil pesto: but that’s ok! It’s worth it for the flavor. You can add the higher end of basil quantity if you want it to be more green.
Ways to Use It
I’ve already mentioned that I absolutely love this in my skillet pesto salmon recipe: here are a few more ideas:
- Tossed with pasta: The first way I tried it was with pasta, sliced cherry tomatoes, and sautéed shrimp. You can also make pesto tortellini or pesto spaghetti.
- With salmon: Make my skillet pesto salmon or my popular oven baked salmon and add this over the top.
- With shrimp: Toss sautéed shrimp with a few big spoons of pesto. Our pesto shrimp is a perfect blueprint.
- As a sandwich spread: A thin layer on bread makes lunch delicious!
- Swirled into soup: A spoonful on top of white bean soup or minestrone is fantastic.
- On pizza: Use it as the base sauce in place of tomato, like in my pesto pizza.
For more ideas see my 20 best recipes with pesto!
Storage Instructions
Transfer pesto to a small jar and refrigerate up to 2 weeks.
Pistachio pesto freezes well, too. Spoon it into an ice cube tray, freeze until solid, then transfer the cubes to a zip-top bag where it stores for 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or you can also drop a cube directly into hot pasta.
Dietary Notes
This pistachio pesto is vegetarian and gluten-free. For a dairy-free version, go to my vegan pesto.
Pistachio Pesto
Pin RecipeThis pistachio pesto comes together in 5 minutes flat and delivers a buttery, herby twist on the classic. One food processor, 5 ingredients: inspired by my parents trip to Sicily!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: ½ cup (doubles easily) 1x
- Category: Appetizer, Condiment
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean
- Diet: Gluten-Free, Mediterranean Diet, Vegetarian
Ingredients
- ½ cup roasted salted pistachios (essential for flavor; see Notes below)
- 1 small garlic clove
- 1 to 2 large handfuls fresh basil leaves
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse the pistachios and garlic until crumbly.
- Add the basil and pulse a few times to incorporate.
- Add the parmesan, turn on the food processor, and slowly drizzle in the olive oil through the feed tube, adding up to 1 tablespoon more olive and scraping the sides as necessary until the desired texture is reached. Taste and add a pinch or two of salt if desired to make the flavor pop.
Notes
- Quantities: It’s easy to make a double batch here; leftovers store refrigerated for a few weeks.
- Pistachios: Roasted, salted pistachios are essential for the flavor here.
More Pesto Recipes to Try
- Arugula Pesto
- Kale Pesto
- Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
- Shrimp Pesto Pasta
- Pesto Chicken
- 25 Tasty Italian Pasta Recipes
from A Couple Cooks https://ift.tt/Yzm32nG
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