Difficulty: easy

Prep time: 5 minutes

Active cooking time: ~15 minutes

Intro to pesto:

Pesto is an Italian sauce, most commonly used with pasta, but also great on sandwiches, in dips, or as a dressing. It is easy, versatile, and incredibly substitute-friendly.

Typically, pesto is made with the following basic formula:

Olive oil + garlic + greens + nuts + cheese are all blended together to create a smooth sauce.

Below I’ll describe each of these ingredients and how to modify and substitute them.

Olive oil and garlic: These will serve as the base for your sauce. Out of all the ingredients, these are the least substitute friendly. Replacing olive oil will change the entire flavor of the sauce and few oils can replace the flavor of olive oil. This is where you want to break out a good quality olive oil, the kind you use for dressings. If you replace the garlic, you’ll also lose a key flavor base, however, it can be done. If you must replace garlic, some suitable substitutes could include a small amount of shallot, red onion, green garlic or spring garlic, or even chives. If replacing garlic with any of the above, substitute the same volume, meaning if the recipe calls for 1 clove of garlic, only use enough chopped shallot equivalent to the volume of 1 garlic clove (which isn’t very much). This ingredient is crucial to pesto so only replace it if you are truly in a pinch. A final note on how to use garlic: remember that nothing in pesto is really cooked so 1 clove of garlic will provide a strong flavor. If you love garlic and are thinking, isn’t the rule of thumb 1 clove per serving (or even more)? Yes, if you’re cooking the garlic! Heat mellows the flavor, so trust that 1 raw clove for a few servings is all you need.

Greens: This is the most substitute-friendly ingredient and where you can experiment with different types of pesto. Basil is most commonly used in pesto, however, popular varieties also include kale, arugula, or even parsley and cilantro. The type of green you use will come through in the flavor. For a very fresh, herbaceous flavor, you can’t go wrong with basil. For a more robust taste, kale is great, or more for a fresh peppery taste, arugula is wonderful. The rest of this recipe will use arugula as the main green. And if you’re thinking, if I wanted kale wouldn’t I eat a salad? Using a salad green in pesto is a fool-proof way to eat something delicious and healthy.

Nuts: Classic recipes will use lightly toasted pine nuts, partially because they are soft and blend very well. But pine nuts can be expensive and many other nuts will do just fine. Depending on your palette, it can be very hard to tell if a different nut is used so substituting will change the flavor only slightly. One of the most common alternatives are almonds and walnuts as they lend a neutral flavor and do not overpower the pesto. Pistachios also work well, but they tend to lend a stronger flavor to the final product (not a bad thing, but keep in mind what your desired outcome is). If you are nervous about the nuts not blending smoothly, blanch them in hot water for 1-2 minutes before blending, but if you have a reasonably strong blender or food processor you should not encounter any issues. For a nut-free pesto, sunflower seeds work well as a substitute.

Cheese: Parmigiano Reggiano is one of the most popular cheeses used in pesto. You can easily substitute Pecorino Romano or Grana Padano. If none of these are available, Asiago or Gruyere can also work as well. You want to stick to hard cheeses that grate well and stay away from cheese whose flavor profile is very different from Parm, e.g., it is not recommended to use mozzarella or cheddar. If you need a dairy-free pesto, omitting the cheese will likely not make or break your sauce. If serving guests with different dietary restrictions, you can opt to exclude cheese from the pesto and then serve it individually on top for those who would like it.

The following recipe will provide guidelines on the amounts of each of these ingredients, but pesto is very much a touch-and-go dish. You may start out with 1/3 cup of olive oil and realize the sauce tastes bitter at the end, then add more cheese and oil. If the sauce is too thick, add some water (bonus points if it’s pasta water). The sauce may not have enough body, so add more nuts. Remember to add salt to bring out the flavor of the sauce.

Ingredients: (enough sauce for ~1 pound of pasta)

• 1 bag of arugula (approx. 5 oz) washed and dried (click here to learn how to keep arugula fresh)

• 2/3 cup olive oil plus more for adjustments

• 1 garlic clove

• 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

• 1 large handful of walnuts (shelled but not peeled) (approx. 15 walnuts)

Preparation:

Step 1: Set a large pot of water to boil

Step 2: In the meantime, peel the garlic and measure the rest of the ingredients. (Tip if you have a high-powered blender, throw small piece of Parm in and, with only the cheese inside, turn it on high and let your blender do the work of grating for you, just empty into a separate container)

Step 3: Once water is boiling, heavily salt it (like pasta water) and blanche the arugula in the water for 1 minute. You may need to work in batches. Have a strainer over a bowl ready and after 1 minute, transfer the arugula to the strainer to drain. Lightly press down to remove excess water but a little residual water is okay and will help the sauce blend

Step 4: Load your blender with the 1/3 cup of olive oil, nuts, and garlic. Blend on high until the mixture is smooth

Step 5: Add the arugula to the blender blend until smooth, adding the remaining 1/3 cup of olive oil in batches, as needed.  Add the cheese and blend again

Step 6: Check for taste and consistency, add salt and pepper to taste

Serving: For best results, mix with freshly boiled pasta and add a spoonful or two of pasta water to help the sauce bind