With fresh ingredients like green onions, garlic, lemon, basil, parsley, green olives, capers, and more. You can’t go wrong with a homemade batch of basil and green olive pesto sauce.

How to Make Basil and Green Olive Pesto Sauce

INGREDIENTS (full printable recipe below)

• green onions
• garlic
• lemon peel
• basil leaves
• parsley sprigs
• green olives with pimientos
• capers
• lemon juice
• crushed red pepper flakes
• parmesan and Romano cheese blend
• olive oil

DIRECTIONS (full printable recipe below)

1. Place the onion, garlic, and lemon peel in a food processor, cover and pulse until chopped.
2. Add half of the basil and parsley, cover and process until chopped.
3. Add remaining basil and parsley, process until chopped.
4. Add the olives, capers, lemon juice, pepper flakes, and cheese, cover and process until blended, while processing, gradually add oil in a steady stream.
5. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

How to Use Pesto Sauce

While pesto is fantastic on pasta, there are other options. Here are a few of my favorite ways to use pesto sauce.

1. DIP FOR BREAD: Pour olive oil in a saucer, add a dollop of presto and dip crusty sour dough bread. This makes an easy appetizer.
2. VEGETABLES: Blanch fresh vegetables, dry, place in a large skillet with olive oil and a dollop of pesto. Sauté vegetables.
3. MARINADE: Pour olive oil into a zip top bag, spoon in some of the pesto, and add chicken or steak. Marinade at least 2 hours.
4. FINISHING SAUCE: Add a spoonful of butter and pesto to the top of a juicy steak.
5. PIZZA: Instead of red sauce, add a smear of this Basil and Green Olive Pesto Sauce.

How to Freeze Homemade Pesto Sauce

Freeze homemade pesto sauce to use throughout the year. Divide sauce into dinner portions, spoon into small zip top bags, label, and store flat in the freezer. Pesto sauce is good up to 6 months.

How to Freeze Fresh Basil Leaves

Chop leaves, stuff them into ice cube trays, cover with cold water, and freeze. NOTE: The frozen bits will turn black as soon as they thaw, but they will still taste like basil.

How to Dry Fresh Basil Leaves

Did you know you can dry your own basil? Forget about the high prices at the store. Summer means gardens are overflowing with basil and that means it’s time to get busy and work on preserving it for the colder months. Find out FOUR WAYS you can dry fresh basil→HOW TO DRY FRESH BASIL

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE THIS PESTO RECIPE

This Dairy Free Homemade Pesto Recipe tastes great whether you’re dairy free or not. Made with lemon, walnuts, garlic and basil. This basil pesto is incredibly delicious, and perfect on chicken, pasta or pizza!

RECIPES USING PESTO

PESTO STUFFED FRIED CHICKEN BREAST 2. QUICK TOMATO PESTO PIZZA SAUCE 3. PESTO STUFFED PORK CHOPS