Summer is the perfect time for pesto.

And, making pesto is simple: just add fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, a hard Italian cheese of your choice and pine nuts into a food processor and you’re all set! (You can even watch me make my recipe for Easy Basil Pesto on YouTube.)

Whether you have a garden or not, fresh basil is abundant right now. But, the one ingredient that prevents me from making tons and tons of pesto is the price of pine nuts (or, pignolis). Because of pests and warmer temperatures, the typical pine nut harvest has drastically depleted, driving up the price as a result.

Fear not, pesto lovers, because I just heard this story on NPR today that addressed this issue exactly. Their solution? Replacing the pine nut with the pistachio! They claim it’s a colorful substitute that still has that nutty flavor you want in your pesto.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

 

Photo: Patrick Onofre Photography

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Tags: basil pesto pasta recipe, basil pesto recipe, easy pesto recipe, gnocchi with pesto, homemade pesto recipe, pasta pesto recipe, pesto recipe, pignolis price, pine nut prices, pistachio pesto recipe, pistacho pesto

This entry was posted on Friday, August 9th, 2013 at 4:18 am and is filed under Dinner Recipes, Nisa Burns, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.