Making your own pesto is worth it! It has a wonderfully intense flavor. Depending on the season, you can even gather herbs yourself in the garden or the forest. Beyond the traditional recipe, there are a wide variety of options when it comes to preparation and ingredients. We have the best tips for you to ensure your pesto recipe is a guaranteed success!

Make delicious pesto yourself – quick and easy

What exactly is pesto?

Pesto is a cold, concentrated herb sauce with olive oil and Parmesan, originally from Italy. The original Pesto Genovese recipe contains basil as the main ingredient.

One of the best-known varieties is Pesto Rosso. Sun-dried or oil-packed tomatoes give it its typical red color.

The word pesto comes from the Italian word pestare, which means to pound. Originally, herbs were crushed—or pounded—using a mortar and pestle.

Making your own pesto is worth it

Unfortunately, the terms Pesto Genovese or Pesto Rosso are not protected within the EU. You often find inferior quality in stores that has little to do with the original recipe. Conventional manufacturers often use expensive pine nuts instead of cashews or dilute hard cheese with semolina. High-quality olive oil is usually replaced by cheaper sunflower oil. So, making your own pesto is definitely worthwhile!

In addition to classic recipes, you can make pesto in numerous variations. This way, you choose your own ingredients. Looking at the seasonal calendar, you can, for example, gather wild garlic yourself in the forest. Or you can create aromatic herb pestos from arugula or lamb's lettuce.

A brief history of pesto

Pesto Genovese (green) comes from the Liguria region of Italy. The recipe with basil as the main ingredient first appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. The predecessor to pesto is considered to be the so-called agliata, made from garlic and parsley. This sauce was already known in Liguria during the Renaissance.

Originally, herbs and ingredients were crushed with a stone mortar. That is also where the name of this popular herb sauce comes from: the Italian pestare means to crush. The original recipe contains basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan, Pecorino Sardo (a hard cheese from Sardinia), and salt. Italian gourmets swear by basil that comes from the region around Genoa, which is said to give Pesto Genovese an incomparable flavor.

The original Italian recipe contains less garlic than German variations. Pesto Rosso comes from Sicily and contains basil, garlic, almonds, Pecorino, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Popular varieties

Original Pesto Genovese contains basil as its main ingredient. You can, of course, replace it with other herbs like cilantro, wild garlic, and arugula. The red variety gets its color from the addition of tomatoes. Among the most popular varieties are:

• Basil Pesto (Genovese)
• Red Pesto (Rosso)
• Wild Garlic Pesto
• Cilantro Pesto
• Arugula Pesto

What is the difference between pesto, sugo, and sauce?

Pesto is a cold, concentrated olive oil sauce made from herbs or tomatoes. In Italy, "sugo" refers to a thick sauce made from tomato pulp without any thickening agents. Sauce comes in countless variations and is generally thickened with flour or starch.

How many calories does pesto have?

The nutritional value of a pesto depends on the ingredients used and is generally between 400 – 500 kcal per 100 ml.

Olive, sunflower, and walnut oil have around 860 kcal per 100 ml, while pine nuts and walnuts have about 670 kcal per 100 g. By using cashews, you can lower the nutritional value, as they are among the lowest-calorie nuts at 530 kcal. Their texture gives pesto a creamy consistency and can replace cheese in the recipe for a light or vegan version. At 430 kcal per 100 g, Parmesan contains about 30 kcal more than Pecorino.

Is pesto vegan?

According to traditional recipes, pesto contains Pecorino and Parmesan. Of course, there are vegan recipes today, so you can easily make it without cheese. In these versions, cashews and nutritional yeast provide a creamy consistency.

Making your own pesto: How to do it best

Which ingredients go into a pesto?

As a rule, a pesto consists of herbs, nuts, garlic, hard cheese, and oil. Pesto Rosso contains fewer herbs but includes tomatoes. Beyond traditional recipes, there are numerous variations.

While the original Italian recipe relies on basil, cilantro, wild garlic, or arugula also give the herb sauce intense aromas. The tomatoes for a Pesto Rosso are dried or oil-packed. In the Mediterranean region, pine nuts are only obtained from wild harvesting. There are also precious seeds from China on the market, but they have a very high fat content, which can cause your homemade pesto to go rancid quickly. Alternatively, walnuts or cashews are excellent for the herb sauce. Vegan pestos also gain a particularly creamy consistency from cashews.

Which oil is best?

Original Italian recipes use olive oil to make pesto. Alternatively, you can also use walnut or sunflower oil.

When choosing your oil, you should value quality. High-quality olive oil has intense fruity notes that perfectly round off a homemade pesto. However, good olive oil tastes bitter. When processing it, it is advisable to follow a few tips to avoid overly strong bitter notes.

If you want to avoid olive oil, you can also use walnut or sunflower oil. The bold aroma of walnut oil goes perfectly with cilantro or arugula pesto. Sunflower oil has a relatively neutral taste and is a good base for numerous herb variations. Rapeseed oil has a relatively strong inherent taste and is less suitable for making your own pesto.

Know-how – Avoid bitter notes when making pesto

What should I look out for when making pesto?

You should definitely make pesto quickly! This ensures the ingredients react with oxygen for as short a time as possible and develop fewer bitter substances.

Additionally, traditional crushing with a mortar and pestle is recommended, especially when using olive oil. The coarse mechanical processing prevents the creation of unwanted bitter substances in the ingredients. If you use a hand blender or mixer, you should process the ingredients for as little time as possible.

Tip: A splash of lemon juice in homemade pesto preserves the green color of the herbs. You can skip this trick with parsley; the herbs will remain green for a long time even without lemon juice.

How can I neutralize bitter substances?

When making pesto, it can sometimes taste a little bitter. If it tastes bitter, you can sweeten it afterwards with honey and refine it with garlic. Adding cheese also softens the bitter taste.

How can I use homemade pesto in the kitchen?

Classically, pesto is used as a cold sauce for pasta dishes and topped with Parmesan. You can also use the spicy sauce to enhance salads or soups. Green versions with their strong herbal aromas go well with light leaf salads and cream sauces, while red versions refine hearty raw vegetable salads, an Italian pasta salad, dark soups, and sauces with aromatic notes. You can use it to season casseroles, pizza, tortillas, or wraps. Or you can simply spread the aromatic herb sauce on your bread. It tastes especially delicious with toasted ciabatta slices.

Why shouldn't you heat pesto?

Green pesto has an intense herbal flavor that suffers when heated. Furthermore, heat causes the green chlorophyll in the herbs to turn brown.

Shelf life and storage

How long does homemade pesto last?

Homemade pesto keeps in the refrigerator for up to four weeks. After using it, you should cover the sauce with oil. This allows the ingredients to react with oxygen less quickly and it keeps significantly longer.

By freezing it, you can store homemade pesto for a longer period. It should thaw in the refrigerator for a day before use.

How do I make my homemade pesto last as long as possible?

Homemade pesto must be stored in the refrigerator immediately after being filled into jars. A layer of oil should sufficiently cover the sauce.

Store-bought pestos contain preservatives and are not stored in the refrigerator before the jar is opened. Anyone who wants to make pesto with the longest possible shelf life can avoid using pine nuts. Due to their high fat content, the herb sauce can quickly go rancid. Walnuts or cashews are excellent substitutes.