Traditionally, pesto is made with garlic, pine nuts, basil leaves, parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil along with a touch of lemon juice. Here, I have replaced pine nuts with walnuts since it is very difficult to find good quality pine nuts. Also, I have used a regular hard cheese here.

You can use the nuts of your choice and experiment around with the sauce. Also, I have used lesser amount of olive oil, as per my preference. Feel free to use extra olive oil in your pesto sauce.

50gms Basil leaves

25gms Walnuts, unshelled

3-4 garlic pods, peeled

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

15-20 gms hard cheese, any cheese

Salt to taste

Use a blender to make pesto sauce. First, add walnuts, cheese and grind coarsely. Add basil leaves, garlic pods, lemon juice, salt and olive oil to the blender and grind further.

Boil spaghetti noodles in salt water.

In a pan, sauté the spaghetti noodles in olive oil and salt for about a minute and then remove from the flame.

Add the pesto sauce, mix well and garnish with some grated cheese.

I usually prefer a coarser form of pesto. Grind it further to get a creamier pesto and add water as per need.

Add olive oil while grinding basil leaves, this way you can avoid oxidation of the leaves and it will result in brighter, green pesto.

If you're planning to store pesto in the fridge, add a layer of olive oil after transferring to the container, this prevents further oxidation.

I use pesto in more than pastas. I love having my pesto as a sandwich spread with some grilled tofu and some grated cheese.