Basil and Mint Pesto

Transform your average pesto with sweet and cooling mint. Mixed through with the aromatic basil, these herbs smell amazing together. This Basil and Mint Pesto won’t disappoint!

Originated in Genoa, a city located in northern Italy, the five main ingredients in a pesto sauce are basil leaves, crushed garlic, pine nuts, hard cheese like Parmigiano-Reggiano and olive oil.

Pesto is traditionally prepared using a knife to finely chop or with a mortar and pestle to cream the ingredients together. As much as we like to do that, most days we would make our pesto with a blender for a quicker yet delicious outcome.

As pesto has evolved over the years, there are many recipes out there with different ingredients. You can tweak it adding your own twists just like we did with our Basil and Mint Pesto.

You can also alter the ratios as you please – for more garlicky flavour add more garlic, don’t like the zing, omit the lemon juice etc.

There are vegan options that leave out the hard cheese and replace it with nutritional yeast or even miso! For a nut free version, swap the pine nuts for sunflower seeds.

Pesto is a versatile sauce to have in the fridge. Freshly made pesto can store up to at least one week or more. For a quick meal, stir our basil and mint pesto through warm pasta.

We love to spread basil and mint pesto over bread to make a delicious sandwich or stir through a warm pasta salad.

The best thing about pesto are the different varieties of herbs and nuts that you can use. This sorrel pesto is the perfect example.

Basil and Mint Pesto Ingredients

Basil: Sweet, aromatic basil leaves. The king of all herbs.

Mint: Nothing quite beats fresh mint leaves to add some spearmint undertones throughout the pesto.

Pine nuts: A pesto staple, you’ll be able to find these easily in your supermarket.

Parmesan: Get yourself a good block of fresh parmesan. Don’t rely on those dried versions that are in a powder form or even the shaved, packed versions. The parmesan is an integral ingredient in this pesto so fresh cheese is best.

Garlic: Can’t go past some pungent garlic to enhance the flavours of the

Extra virgin olive oil: Use your favourite extra virgin olive oil. Make sure it’s of a good quality as it will make a difference to the pesto and its tastes.

Lemon: For this recipe we need both the juice of the lemon and the zest for fresh citrusy goodness.

Basil and Mint Pesto Method

Remove basil from the stem to yield 1 ½ cups. Repeat with mint to yield ½ cup.

Wash basil and mint leaves. Shake dry.

Add basil and mint leaves and pine nuts to a food processor or hand blender. Pulse several times.

Add grated parmesan cheese and garlic to the mixture, scrape down the sides and continue to blend for approximately 1 minute.

While the food processor is running, slowly add the extra virgin olive oil in a steady stream. Blend until a smooth mixture. By gradually adding the oil, you create an emulsion with the ingredients and less likely to separate later.

Remove the lid and add lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Pulse a couple more times.

Taste and adjust flavours as required. If you find it a bit gluggy, add a little more extra virgin olive oil.

Remove basil mint pesto from the food processor/hand blender and set aside for assembly.

Best Salad for This Dressing

Charred Truss Tomato Salad with Stracciatella

Classic pairings of truss tomato with Stracciatella di Buffalo mingled with a deliciously fresh basil and mint pesto. Stunning to serve and easy to make. Pretty good, hey?

More Salad Dressing Recipes

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