Chestnut Free Basil & Olive Pesto

Total time10 min

Prep time10 min

Cook time0 min

4.5

(20)

Bright, herby, and punchy with briny green olive flavor, this pesto is a serious upgrade from anything you'd find in a jar at the grocery store. Traditional pesto recipes often call for pine nuts, which can be processed on shared equipment with tree nuts like chestnuts — making store-bought versions a gamble for anyone avoiding them. This recipe skips nuts entirely, leaning on pitted green olives to deliver that rich, savory depth you'd otherwise miss. The combination of fresh basil, lemon juice, and lemon zest keeps things vibrant and bright, while a slow drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil brings it all together into a silky, spoonable sauce. A handful of fresh parsley is optional but adds a lovely herbal lift if you have it on hand. Toss it with pasta, spread it on crusty bread, or use it as a dipping sauce — it's endlessly versatile and comes together in just a few minutes with a food processor.

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Ingredients

6 servings

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
⅓ cup pitted green olives
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
½ tsp lemon zest
½ tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1–2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves (optional)

Instructions

1
Combine the basil leaves, green olives, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 8–10 times until the mixture is coarsely chopped and the garlic is broken down.
2
With the processor running, pour the olive oil in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube, processing until the pesto is smooth with a few flecks of texture remaining — about 20–30 seconds. Stop and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, then pulse once or twice more to incorporate.

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