The first time I tried to make pesto, it turned out horrible. I used dried basil. Oops. In my defense: I was twelve at the time. Still working on my culinary skills! Anyhow, I’d had pesto at our local Spaghetti Factory and fell in love. I’m not sure I followed a recipe. I probably asked the server what was in this delicious sauce and thought I’d stuck gold when I realized mom had all the ingredients on hand. But no, she really didn’t. In case you were wondering, pesto made with dried basil is a chewy, disgusting mess. So yeah, this recipe uses fresh basil, and is far superior to my original pesto recipe. I’ve made classic vegan pesto before, but I decided to switch things up for once, and try some pistachio pesto. Pistachios are a great way to vary the flavor in basil pesto, and, good news: they’re a heck of a lot cheaper than pine nuts. Bonus: lemon is also delicious and refreshing and goes great with fresh basil. So I’ve included some freshly squeezed lemon juice in this recipe as well. Making pistachio pesto is easy! Throw your ingredients into a food processor and blend. Give it a taste. Does it need anything? Add it now! It’ll probably be a bit thick at this point, so run it through the food processor a second time and drizzle in some additional olive oil as you do, just until the consistency is right.
Pro Tips
Don’t use dried basil. Haha! I hope you figured that out by now, but just in case.Your homemade vegan pesto will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.Try freezing your pistachio pesto in individual portions in an ice cube tray. Transfer the frozen cubes to an airtight container and return them to the freeze for long term storage. Then thaw as many as you need at a time!
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