Green Pesto Sauce

I often double this recipe, especially when there’s a profusion of fresh herbs from the garden. Spooned generously onto grilled chicken, it’s also great for making a delicious Chicken Club Sandwich spread, or for instantly enhancing salad dressings (and of course tossed into cooked pasta).

Green Pesto Sauce

Recipe

By Ruth Gangbar

Serves ½ cup yield Prep Time 5 minutes Cooking Time 5 minutes


Ingredients

  • 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
  • 1 cup fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
  • ½ cup Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
  • ⅓ cup pine nuts, walnuts pieces, or sunflower seeds
  • 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Method

  1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the garlic, basil, parsley,
    pine nuts, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
  2. Pulse 2 or 3 times until coarsely chopped, scraping sides as necessary.
  3. Add olive oil in a stream, pulsing until desired texture.

Keeps for about a week in the refrigerator.

Variations

  • Add ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, adjusting texture with a little more olive oil as desired.
  • For a spicier kick, add chopped, seeded jalapeño to taste.
  • Too hot? add a teaspoon of honey.

Ruth Gangbar is a food stylist, recipe writer, cook, and gardener with decades of styling work with food photographers under her belt for notable clients like LCBO Food and Drink and Cottage Life Magazines, Yorkshire Valley Farms, and Foodland Ontario. She bakes a mean pie and loves making preserves, with her popups as Ruth’s Canteen and off-grid cabin rentals. Like her photography, this green pesto is sure to please.

@ruthgangbar on Instagram

Photo credit: Christopher Gentile