How to Make Pesto the Right Way || A Little Help: Pesto

Pesto is one of the best sauces in the world, and you can easily make it at home. Did you try making it and it turned out bland, or was the taste or texture a little off? Here is a step-by-step guide to making delicious, authentic pesto to top your favorite pasta, salads, and sandwiches. Grab your basil and let’s get cooking.
The kitchen can be a really stressful place. Thrillist's own Lee Kalpakis is here to show you that cooking doesn’t have to feel scary or complicated. In each episode, we break down one fundamental aspect of cooking, step by step, to show you how to get the best results, because sometimes all you need is A Little Help.
Follow Lee Kalpakis on Instagram: @leekalpakis

Recipe
½ cup pine nuts, toasted
2 cloves garlic
1 cup good olive oil
1 cup grated parm
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Juice of ½ a lemon
6 cups basil leaves

Producer
Debbie Wong

Producer/Host
Lee Kalpakis

Camera Operators
Cole Chilton
Thom McKenna

Audio
Nick Hernandez

Editor
Debbie Wong

Animator
Megan Chong

Production Assistant
Chanel Baker

Production Coordinator
Sarah Barry

Graphics Art Director
Ted McGrath

Line Producer
Emily Tufaro

Senior Producer
Lauren Brenner

Post Production Supervisor
Daniel Byrne

Supervising Producer
Stasia Tomlinson

Creative Director
Thomas O'Quinn

Executive Producer
Justin Lundstrom

Music
0:14
"Beautiful Night in Rome" by Daniele Benati

0:43
"Rag Billy" by Pietro Paletti

1:53
"Bambino Instrumental" by Vichenzo Orru

3:30
"Beautiful Night in Rome" by Daniele Benati

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[ariasalonso]

what a great job you do. Good to look at. Congrats and keep it up.

[psych]

These episodes are getting better! Keep it up!

[billy-mild]

If you make a lot of it in advance, pesto freezes and reheats really well. It's really nice to make pesto from garden basil and then have some in the middle of winter.

[Skenjin]

Is there a substitute other than nuts or seeds to the pine nuts?

[circle_line]

finally a good pesto recipe. There are way too many pesto recipe videos with avocados or spinach instead of basil, or no pine nuts (or no nuts at all) that were making me go nuts

[koneye]

Don't use cashews making pesto, it turns all soft and creamy and sucks ass