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How to Make Pesto

Pesto is very versatile: add it to freshly cooked pasta, spread onto white fish before baking, serve with grilled chicken or spread on bruschetta.

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pine and basil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 332 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

How to Make Pesto

Serves 4
Prep30 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

443Calories
15 gProtein
40 gFat
11 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pine Nut1 oz (28g)191
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pine + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together332 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Basil + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,823 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Basil + olivetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,063 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pine, basil, clove, garlic, olive, pepper, lemon):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Cashew nutfits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pine, basil, clove, garlic, olive, pepper, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.