It’s fair to say I normally try to reserve my Wednesday posts for burgers, but this month called for something a little extra. We’re currently going through pesto month over on Vine and in our Monday posts, so what better way to mark the theme than to share with you my favourite pesto recipe? This one is close to our hearts for several reasons. First, I love to make it in a big batch every month or so, storing it in a mason jar to serve over spaghetti or pizza for the rest of the week. Secondly, it was one of the first Vine posts that we did that saw a big response. It surprised us with how many loops, comments, and likes it got, and it remains one of our most popular Vines even now.
This is definitely one of my favourite recipes ever, and over the course of time we have actually improved it a little from the way it was in the Vine. I’ve therefore put together the most refined version of the recipe here, so you can try it for yourself. We will be using this recipe for all of our pesto month posts, so if you want to recreate any of them, you can take our word for it that this recipe really works well for them.
The quantities here will make a big batch that might serve up to 8 people for spaghetti or other types of pasta. We normally keep it in the fridge in a sealed container, and find that it lasts as long as five days. The avocado will start to turn a pink or reddish hue throughout the mixture, but until it actually gets to brown, you do not need to worry. In our experience, mould comes first anyway.
It can get a little expensive to make if you only do small batches, but I can promise you that you will enjoy this pesto more than anything you could simply buy in a shop.
If you want to reduce the cost, get pine nuts and brazil nuts in bulk. The brazils are really great for snacks, and the pine will go nicely on top of just about any Italian-inspired dish.
Here’s the recipe in full! Give it a go, and let me know what you think.
- 125g Brazil nuts
- 50g pine nuts
- 1 & 1/2 avocados
- 50g rocket
- 30g fresh basil
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 10 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Put the Brazil buts and pine nuts into a blender together and blend to crumbs
- Add the avocado, rocket, basil, olive oil, water, and lemon juice
- Blend again into a smooth pesto
- Taste and add more water if too thick; more rocket or avocado if too watery; more greens if too nutty; more nuts if not nutty enough.
- Serve!
- Keep in a mason jar or tupperware inside the fridge for a few days, or make large batches of spaghetti for an easy after work dinner.
It looks great and I love that you have pine nuts in it… I love pine nuts!
Me too! I always sneak a couple of them when I’m making this…
I never knew how easy it was to make pesto! I need to start making it from scratch it seems!
Looks tastier than the normal one
It is definitely so much tastier – and healthier too!
This pesto looks amazing! I think I need to make this. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never actually made my own pesto, even though I love it lots!
I wouldn’t have though about adding the brazil nuts into them, I can imagine it tastes lovely with them in. I usually eat the chocolate covered brazil nut variety.
Laura x
I definitely recommend it – we make this so often because it’s just delicious! The brazil nuts are really the magic touch, both for the taste and texture.
I have to make this! It looks divine! I also love the pictures, recipe box and your vine! What a nice touch
Thank you – you’ll have to let me know how it goes!