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Green Lemon pesto with lemon slice and basil leaf on top, in a green bowl, fitted inside a yellow bowl.
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5 from 4 votes

Lemon Pesto Recipe

Lemon Pesto is a fun twist on classic pesto made with basil. With both lemon zest and lemon juice in the mix, it's bright, flavorful, and so delicious for making Lemon Pesto Pasta, and so many other recipes.
*Makes approx. 1¾ to 2 cups / Serving size: approx ¼ cup
Prep Time30 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Condiments, Sauces, Dressings and Vinaigrettes
Cuisine: Italian, American
Keyword: unique pesto recipes, savory lemon recipes
Servings: 8
Calories: 255kcal

Ingredients

  • cup pine nuts, toasted
  • 1 cup lemon rind (from approx. 1¼-pound lemons), see instruction no.1 below
  • 4 cups lightly packed basil leaves (approx. 4-ounces), washed and dried
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 3 tablespoons capers, drained
  • 1 tablespoon garlic (from approx 3 large cloves) peeled, smashed, roots removed
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoons granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • pinch or two Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Toast the pine nuts. Add the pine nuts to a small sauté pan and place it over medium-low heat. Shaking the pan gently to move them around often, heat just until they’re golden, very aromatic and look oily. Set them aside to cool.
  • Peel the lemons. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the outermost part of the lemon rinds from 1¼-pounds of lemons (approx. 4 to 5 lemons). Only use gentle pressure so you don't get too much of the white pith -- we want all or mostly yellow because the pith is quite bitter.
  • Blanch the peels. Place the peels in a small saucepan and add enough water to cover them by about an inch. Place the pan over high heat and bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 minute. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.
  • Blend all of the ingredients. In a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, blend the blanched lemon peels with the basil, grated Parmesan, toasted pine nuts, capers, garlic, sugar and lemon juice. Once the mixture is as smooth as you can get it, with the food processor on, pour in the oil in a slow stream through the lid's opening. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (You likely won't need much salt because the capers are salty. Here's How to Season to Taste.)

Notes

Calorie count is only an estimate.

Nutrition

Calories: 255kcal