No Cook Simple Lemon Pesto Sauce for Pasta
There are many ways to pesto and they all don't have to include basil. Lemon pesto sauce screams "hellloooo Spring!" and doesn't have any basil. With loads of lemon zest, juice and parmesan, lemon pesto is just as simple to make as its basil cousin thanks to a food processor. Get all the tips including what kind of pasta (or sandwich) to pair with lemon pesto. Your spring menus just got a whole lot brighter!
Servings 1 cup
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup lemon zest from 5-6 lemons; see notes
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 Tablespoons pine nuts I buy them toasted from Trader Joe's
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 2-3 T softened butter
Instructions
- Zest the lemons using a lemon zester that removes only the zest and not the pith. Don't grate the lemon or you risk getting the bitter pith (white part).½ cup lemon zest
- Place the lemon, salt, pepper, whole cloves of garlic and pine nuts in the medium sized bowl of a food processor or mini prep. Pulse about 3-5 times to blend the lemon and garlic. Then, turn the machine on and pour the oil in slowly through the feed tube at the top. Stop when you have a thick sauce, about 10 seconds or so.1 teaspoons kosher salt, 1-2 cloves garlic, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 3 Tablespoons pine nuts , ½ cup olive oil
- Remove the pesto to a medium bowl and add in butter and parmesan cheese. Use a bar muddler to press the cheese(s) and butter into the pesto. This should be really easy especially if the butter is softened as noted above.2-3 T softened butter, ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- Toss with hot pasta. Add pasta water as needed to make a thinner sauce as desired. Serve with parmesan.
Notes
Storage Suggestions and Tips
- Refrigerate in an airtight container with a lid for up to 4 days.
- Freeze small portions in ice cube trays (Souper Cubes are awesome too!) so you can have pesto all year long.
- Defrost in the fridge or at room temperature and stir to blend before using.
