Pesto sauce is such an underrated sauce. It tastes like a lot of flavours together. Sometimes it tastes nutty, bitter, tart, and sour. But altogether it tastes heavenly.
This sauce originated in Italy. It has become a perfect accompaniment for pizza, pasta, soups, finger food, and lots more.
A store-bought pesto cream sauce tastes good. But have you ever tried making creamy pesto sauce at home?
I’ll show you how we can make 5 minutes pesto sauce at home. With a few ingredients, you can whip up this creamy pesto sauce.
What does creamy pesto sauce taste like?
The authentic and traditional pesto sauce has
- Basil Leaves
- Pine nuts
- Garlic
- Hard Cheese (like Cheddar)
- Salt
- Olive Oil
- Lemon
Hence, the taste of pesto sauce is:-
- bitter due to basil
- garlicky because of a good amount of garlic
- creamy due to the cheese
- a little bit peppery because of olive oil
- tart or sour due to lemon juice
The pesto sauce has variations around the world. But it’s base remains the same. Pesto sauce is thus a blend of:-
- a good quantity of garlic
- any hard cheese
- a part of oily nuts (example: walnut, cashew, peanuts, almonds)
- flavoursome leaves or a combination of flavourful leaves
- salt
- olive oil
- lemon juice
What can we use pesto sauce for?
You can use your basil pesto sauce in many ways. The first dish that comes to mind is Pasta!
Besides the pasta, you can use your homemade pesto sauce as
- a dip with crackers/chips/ vegetable slices
- Creamy chicken lasagna
- As a pizza topping. You can smother your own pesto sauce on this homemade no-yeast pizza.
- Apart from this, there are 15 other ways to use your homemade pesto sauce.
Pesto Sauce Vs. Tomato Sauce
Is pesto better than tomato sauce? Well, that depends on your taste buds.
Tomato sauce contains pureed tomatoes cooked over low to medium heat. Garlic and other seasonings are also used in the puree.
Pesto sauce is not cooked and used raw. We blend the ingredients of pesto sauce together.
Both are different in taste but both of them are some of my favourite toppings on a pizza. Why not make my homemade tomato sauce and see which is better pesto or tomato sauce?
Heating the Pesto Sauce?
Many people avoid heating the pesto sauce and prefer to use it cold in certain dishes.
It’s true that we should not cook pesto sauce on direct heat and then added to dishes. The cheese in the sauce will curdle or the aroma of fresh basil would be dead if heated.
If you use pesto sauce as a topping on a pizza, along with chicken and fish, the color of pesto sauce may become darker. But the taste will stay perfect!
Here’s how you make creamy pesto sauce from scratch
Creamy Pesto Sauce
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 15 grams Roasted Peanuts
- 10 grams Cashew Nuts
- 2 teaspoon Garlic Paste or use 8-10 garlic pods
- 1 Cup Fresh Basil leaves
- 8-10 leaves Fresh mint leaves
- 1/2 Cup Processed Cheese
- 1/4 cup + 20 ml Olive oil extra virgin
- 1/2 lemon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
Instructions
- In a blender jar, addroasted peanuts, cashew nuts, and garlic paste. Blend this mixture to a coarsepaste.
- Add the basil leaves and mint leaves and blend it again.
- At last add, cheese, olive oil, sea salt, and lemon juice and blend it until itbecomes a smooth paste.
- Transfer the pesto sauce in a glass jar and it’s ready to use.
- The sauce stays good for 5-7 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- You can use a mix of oily nuts but keep the total quantity below or maximum to 30 grams.
- You can avoid mint leaves completely and use only Basil Leave. Mint leaves give a refreshing taste to the Pesto Sauce.
- Refrigerate the sauce, if you want to use it later and not immediately.
To Conclude
Now that you know the Creamy pesto sauce recipe, how soon are you going to make? Use this pesto sauce on pasta or pizza and experience the underrated flavour of pesto sauce!
Happy Cooking!!