Perfect Summer Pesto Recipes

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Basil is the main ingredient in traditional pesto.
Basil is the main ingredient in traditional pesto.
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Try these summer pesto recipes using cilantro, parsley, arugula, spinach and more. Use pesto with pasta for a snappy summer meal.
Try these summer pesto recipes using cilantro, parsley, arugula, spinach and more. Use pesto with pasta for a snappy summer meal.

These summer pesto recipes are a fast and easy no-cook sauce that can be made using fresh basil, parsley or arugula.

Perfect Summer Pesto Recipes

Basil Pesto Recipe
Spinach or Arugula Pesto Recipe

Every once in a great while I ask myself, “If I could only grow one vegetable, what would it be?” I usually settle on the classic answer of tomatoes. I can’t imagine a summer without ‘Sungold’ cherry tomatoes, ‘Orange Banana’ or ‘Speckled Roman’ paste tomatoes. Then my mind asks — “What about basil?” — and I know that I wouldn’t be happy without fresh basil on my tomatoes or, even better, fresh basil pesto on pasta topped with garden-ripened tomatoes. And fresh parsley. And homegrown garlic!

The ultimate vehicle for the pure heady essence of fresh basil is pesto, an herb paste that is Genoese in origin. Add pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and grated cheese and nothing else. Traditionally it is made with a mortar and pestle. The word pesto originates from “pestare,” meaning to grind or pound.

  • Published on Aug 1, 2007
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