Name: Quick Walnut Pesto with Lemon
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 3 min
Total time: 8 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 cups basil; 1/2 cup parsley; ¼ cup walnuts; ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese; 1 tbsp lemon; ¼ cup olive oil; ¼ tsp salt

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Quick Walnut Pesto with Lemon is the perfect way to use your farmer’s market haul of basil this summer. Make a big batch to enjoy now, and easily freeze to enjoy in the winter months to come!

Walnut Pesto with Lemon in a white bowl, with grey napkin and basil in the back

Being married to an Italian means perfecting my spin on my husband’s favorite sauces, including this bright and summery Pesto! Quite easy and quick to make, the key to an impressive pesto is simply fresh herbs. We’ve loved this walnut basil pesto with lemon recipe all summer long. It’s flavorful and bright and perfect on pasta, salmon, and sandwiches.

Ingredients

Basil: Staple ingredient in a traditional pesto recipe
Parsley: Enhances the pesto with an additional herby flavor
Toasted Walnuts: Toasting the walnut enhances the nutty flavor
Parmesan: Fresh is best! Lately, we have been using pre-grated (because we have no time for the luxuries of shredding cheese) and it is absolutely fine!
Lemon: Adds brightness to pesto
Olive Oil
Salt

How to Make

Toast Walnuts: Toast walnuts in a pan over medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes. They will smell like popcorn and that’s when you know they are done. (Don’t walk away because you will, most likely, forget and burn them. When I try and multi-task while toasting nuts, 10/10 times I will burn the batch !)

Pulse in Food Processor: Combine all ingredients, except oil, in a food processor. Pulse until coarse. Scrape down the sides, turn the food processor to low, and slowly add in oil blending until just combined. You want the pesto to be coarse, not runny (see note on consistency for variations).

Taste: Taste pesto, and add salt and lemon as needed to get the flavor you desire.

Notes on Consistency

This recipe intentionally yields a chunky, thick pesto and therefore only uses ¼ cup of oil and is pulsed in a food processor. If you prefer thinner pesto, add more oil and blend on low to get the consistency you prefer!

Notes on Flavor and Substitutions

This recipe can be adjusted to fit your palate. I love a lemony and salty pesto, but scale these ingredients up or down as you wish! I would recommend making small adjustments so you don’t overdo it. One of my good friends made pesto the other weekend, put a tad too much oil in, and ended up having to run to the store to get more basil to round it out. The silver lining is she now has a nice freezer stash, so if this happens to you it could be a blessing in disguise for the winter months!

In most pesto recipes, you’ll find garlic! I always find the garlic to give the pesto too sharp of a taste. While I’m not a fan, if you’re feeling creative, throw a clove in and see what you think!

While in a traditional pesto pine nuts are used, I prefer walnuts as they give the pesto a bolder, more savory flavor (not to mention they’re a lot cheaper!) In place of walnuts, you can use pine nuts or almonds.

How to Store Pesto

Store pesto in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Pesto can be stored in the freezer for 6 months. We use silicone ice cube trays and once frozen we pop them out and place pesto cubes in a freezer bag.

Equipment Used