I’ve spent years trying different pesto recipes and always feeling like something was missing. Finally I took the time to figure out what I liked about each recipe and what I felt they were missing and I came up with my own pesto recipe that I’m really proud of. I think the secret is really in the lemon juice. They say a good food should have fat, acid, and heat. The lemon juice adds some acid that brightens and lightens this sauce.

I first made this pesto sauce with raw garlic. My family and I really enjoyed the sauce while we were eating it, but immediately after we finished dinner we were all wishing we could escape the smell of our own breath. Google says that eating raw apples or pears can help with garlic breath, so I found myself making a run to the grocery store 30 minutes after dinner to pick up some apples. Eating the raw apple brought the garlic breath under control to the point that it wasn’t the only thing we were thinking about anymore..

So! That is why I decided to try roasting the garlic. You still get that garlic flavor, but it is a bit more complex and mellow. The spicyness of the garlic is lost a bit when it is roasted, so be sure to taste the sauce to see if it needs extra black pepper. To roast the garlic, leave the paper on the garlic cloves, cut off the root end of the cloves, and seal them in aluminum foil. The cut end of the cloves should be arranged so they are all facing the same direction and the cut ends are not touching the paper of another clove. This is because the garlic becomes really sticky when it’s roasted and it would be difficult to separate the skin of another clove. That being said, once the garlic is roasted, the garlic is very soft and to remove it from the paper, just squeeze the paper and the meat of the garlic just slides right out! 

Toasting the pine nuts adds some depth of flavor, however, if you don’t feel like dirtying a pan, just use raw pine nuts. When asked about the value of the toasty-ness of the pine nuts, my taste-testers said I should have made a control for them to compare it to. Translation: “We’re gonna want pesto again tomorrow, so you better get on that” 😉

As for the parmesan, any parmesan will do, but this is one recipe where it is worth springing for a quality name brand parmesan cheese. The parmesan in this recipe is one of the key flavors, so a better parmesan will make a better sauce. On a more practical note, this recipe calls for grated parmesan instead of shredded. That is because I find that my food processor does not even try to cut shredded parmesan into anything smaller than the way it started. Also, the even/small pieces of grated cheese add a more consistent saltiness and cheesy flavor per bite in my opinion. 

This recipe calls for 5 cups of packed basil leaves. By “packed” I mean that you should try to shove as many basil leaves as possible into your 1 cup measure. This is about equivalent to 8oz of pre-packaged basil with stems that you can buy at the store. I can usually find basil packed in 4oz containers at the grocery store in the summer. If you measure out your basil and find that you have extra, add the extra – there’s no such thing as too much basil in pesto sauce!

I have to admit that this is one of the most expensive dishes I make. The pine nuts are expensive, I use quality cheese, and buying basil at the grocery store.. I’d recommend that if there’s a farmer’s market near you, you’ll get a significantly better price on basil there. I would usually buy two large bundles of basil from a farmer’s market. (Cool trick – you can put your stems of basil in a cup of water on the counter, like you would flowers, and it will stay fresher and perkier longer than if you just put it in the fridge). As for the pine nuts, I’ve read that sunflower seeds are a good alternative to pine nuts in pesto sauce, so you might try that if you’re looking for a way to make this sauce a whole lot more economical.

Let me know if you made this recipe and what you thought of it in the comments section below!

Happy cooking!

Roasted Garlic Pesto

Ingredients:

• 15 large cloves of garlic (~ 1 to 1.5 hands of garlic)
• 4 oz (~1 cup) pine nuts
• 5 cups packed basil leaves (around 8oz of pre-packaged basil on the stem)
• Juice of 1 large lemon
• Heaping ½ cup grated parmesan cheese (nicer brand cheese is better)
• ¾ cup olive oil (or more if you prefer a thinner sauce)
• 1/8 – ¼ tsp salt
• 1/8 – ¼ tsp pepper