Lemon Verbena Pesto is a delicious twist on traditional pesto. Smooth and creamy, with an incredible scent, it spreads beautifully on toast and makes for a luscious sauce on pasta. Recipes for lemon verbena are hard to come by, and this one is a keeper for sure!
There are a lot of unique pesto recipes out there because over the years people have been experimenting with all sorts of ingredients, reinventing the classic basil pesto.
The minute you open the jar of Lemon Verbena Pesto, you'll be lured in by the aroma, and once you have a spoonful, the taste will keep you there.
Make a big jar and keep it at the ready because there are dozens of delicious way to use it.
Jump to:
The Key Ingredients
- fresh lemon verbena leaves - Lemon verbena has a hint of lemon that pairs perfectly with the basil. Again, look for perky bunches and avoid any brown, bruised or yellow leaves. High end stores like Whole Foods often have lemon verbena, and you'll always find it in a nursery, where you can buy it even if you're not planning to plant it.
- fresh basil leaves - I use mostly Thai basil in this recipe, but you can use any variety you love, and any combination of varieties. Look for perky bunches and avoid any brown, bruised or yellow leaves. Typically the smaller baby leaves are softest with a subtle sweetness, whereas larger leaves can sometimes be a tad bitter and a bit thicker.
- pine nuts - The pine nuts will be toasted before we add them to the recipe, to deepen their flavor and bring their oils to their surface.
- Parmesan cheese - Use Parmigiano Reggiano if possible.
- garlic - Look for firm heads of garlic without any soft spots or green shoots.
What is Lemon Verbena?
- Lemon Verbena is a South American shrub, with lemon-scented leaves.
- The leaves are most commonly used for flavoring tea, but other recipes for lemon verbena are becoming more popular.
- Lemon verbena is so incredibly aromatic! If you gently rub the leaves, you will release the most lovely scent imaginable! The fragrance is captivating, relaxing and simply beautiful!
How to Make it
- Add the pine nuts to a small sauté pan and place it over medium-low heat. Moving the pan around often, heat just until they're golden, aromatic and shiny, about 3 minutes. They will be shiny from the oils coming to the surface.
- As you're toasting the nuts, watch them carefully, as they can go from just right to too dark in seconds.
- Blend everything is a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. The texture of the pesto will depend on how long you blend it in the food processor. This is one I like on the smoother side, but you can make it as smooth or chunky as you like.
(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Substitutions and variations
It's fun to experiment with different greens, fresh herbs and nuts. Here are a few ideas:
- Lemon verbena and Basil. It's also fun to make basil with oregano, dill, mustard greens, spinach or kale. You can play with them on their own, or use combination of them.
- Pine nuts. The pine nuts can be substituted with almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews . . . really you can try just about any nut.
- If someone has an allergy to nuts, it's also delicious to make pestos with seeds. Sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds would be super tasty.
How long will it keep?
The pesto can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to about a week.
Serving Suggestions
- Mix it with a little extra olive oil and it'll become an amazing pasta sauce.
- Add extra olive oil and a touch of cider vinegar and use it as a salad dressing.
- Bake fish with it.
- Spread it on toast!
- Serve it with veggies and crackers as an appetizer.
- It’s amazing on pizzas! Check out this Basil Pesto Pizza.
- It's also excellent with eggs, especially mixed into scrambled eggs.
- You can add it to sauces and soups.
- Roast vegetables with it.
- Add a layer of it to lasagna, or use it as the lasagna sauce.
- It’s a really delicious sauce for chicken, salmon and shrimp.
More Recipes with Lemon Verbena
More Must-Try Unique Pesto Recipes
I hope you love Lemon Verbena Pesto as much as I do!
Lemon Verbena Pesto Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 5 cups loosely packed basil leaves* washed and dried
- approximately 2 dozen lemon verbena leaves, washed and dried
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 3 small garlic cloves, peeled, with root end trimmed off
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Toast pine nuts. Add the pine nuts to a small sauté pan and place it over medium-low heat. Moving the pan around often, heat just until they're golden, aromatic and shiny, about 3 minutes. They will be shiny from the oils coming to the surface. (Be careful, as they can go from just right to too dark in seconds.) Set aside to cool.
- Blend herbs. Add the basil and lemon verbena to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and blend until they're finely chopped.
- Add remaining ingredients and blend. Add the toasted pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic and sugar to the food processor, and blend until everything is mixed. Then add the extra virgin olive oil and blend until it's a smooth mixture.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Here's How to Season to Taste.)
NOTES
NUTRITION
Pamela Walters
Love the idea but mine tastes too sweet??
Valentina
Hi Pamela, Happy you liked the idea for this recipe -- you can omit the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Not sure why it would've been sweet otherwise. Thanks for the feedback. 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn
I adore pesto, but I have never had this variety before. Sounds like a must try! Your serving suggestions sound so yummy. I particularly love the idea of using it in lasagna. What a fun and delicious twist! 🙂
Valentina
Thanks so much, Dawn. It's amazing in lasagna! 🙂 ~Valentina