• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Subscribe
Subscribe by email Connect on Facebook Connect on Pinterest Follow Me on Instagram

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

Finding the Forgotten Feast

  • Shop
  • Video Course
  • Stories
  • About
    • Public Events
    • Privacy Policy
  • Wild Game
    • Venison Recipes
    • Duck Recipes and Goose Recipes
    • Rabbits, Hares and Squirrels
    • Pheasants, Turkey, Quail
    • Dove Recipes
    • Wild Pig and Bear Recipes
    • My Best Taco Recipes
    • Wild Game Sauces
  • Charcuterie
    • Homemade Sausage Recipes
    • Smoker Recipes
    • Bacon, Jerky, Hams, etc
    • Salami Recipes
    • Confit, Pate, Terrines
  • Fish
    • General Fish Recipes
    • Salmon Recipes
    • Snapper Recipes
    • Crabs, Shellfish and Squid
    • Little Fish and Oddballs
  • Gathering
    • Preservation Recipes
    • Mushrooms
    • Sweet Things
    • Wild Greens and Herbs
    • Acorns, Nuts, Starches
  • Podcast
Home » Italian » Parsley Pesto

Parsley Pesto

By Hank Shaw on March 5, 2018, Updated March 19, 2021 - 6 Comments

Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe Comment
4.72 from 7 votes
Parsley pesto in a bowl
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Pestos are a mainstay of my cooking. They are so rich, so vibrant and yet so easy to make that I’ve come up with dozens of variations over the years. Parsley pesto one is a traditional Italian winter pestos that features walnuts instead of pine nuts.

I happened to have some pecans lying around, so I used them. What’s the difference? Pecans are milder than walnuts. Feral pecans are pecans I don’t pay for. I just pick them; there’s a tree in nearby Folsom I hit every year.

Parsley pesto in a bowl
Photo by Hank Shaw

That said, I also love using truly wild black walnuts in this pesto. Black walnuts are smaller and are far more flavorful than regular walnuts. Most recipes suggest that when you are using black walnuts you cut in half the amount you use. Not here. I want a powerful walnut punch, and this recipe delivers it in spades. Of course store-bought walnuts are fine here, too, as are pine nuts.

When I am feeling ambitious, I make parsley pesto, or really any pesto, with a mortar and pestle — the texture comes out better that way. After all, it means “pound” in Italian. But, when I am in a hurry, I just buzz everything in a food processor. Just make certain you don’t accidentally make a puree! Pulse everything, don’t let the motor run on your processor.

I always use Italian, flat-leaf parsley for parsley pesto, because I grow it here at the house. But there is no reason you can’t make it with curly parsley, too.

Parsley pesto mixed with pasta in a bowl
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

How to use your parsley pesto? With pasta, of course, or over polenta. Pesto is great mixed into risotto at the last minute, served over white meat poultry or fish, or — and this is my favorite — dropped into a winter minestrone soup, right at the end.

When you use it as a full-on sauce with a dish, you will want to thin it out with lots more olive oil. Pesto can stay chunky if it is going to to be mixed into rice or pasta.

I have a few other standout pestos here on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook: A ramp pesto made with young spring onions, a nettle pesto that uses freshly blanched stinging nettles as the green, and an arugula pesto that is my absolute favorite before the weather warms and the arugula gets too bitter.

If you happen to have lots of parsley and want to make a lot of parsley pesto, you will want to blanch the parsley in boiling, salty water for 30 seconds and then shock it in ice water. This will set the color, so when you freeze and then thaw the finished pesto, it will stay vivid green.

Parsley pesto in a bowl
Print Recipe
4.72 from 7 votes

Parsley Pesto

You will ideally want to use flat-leaf Italian parsley here, and for the nuts you can use whatever. Walnuts are traditional with parsley pesto, but pecans and pine nuts are also great. 
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time0 mins
Total Time20 mins
Course: Condiment
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 127kcal
Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup walnuts, pecans or pine nuts
  • 1 cup chopped parsley, tightly packed
  • 1/2 cup finely grated pecorino or Parmigiano cheese
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 to 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • Black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Put all the ingredients except for the oil into a large mortar and grind to a stiff paste. Once everything is pretty well ground, drizzle in about a quarter of the olive oil and grind it into the pesto. Repeat with another quarter of the oil and then another, until you have incorporated all the oil into the pesto.
  • Alternately, you can put everything but the oil into the bowl of a food processor. Buzz the mixture while slowly drizzling in the oil. The more oil you use, the more like a sauce and less like a condiment your pesto will be. 
  • When the pesto is coming together, taste for salt, and add if needed. Serve your parsley pesto right away, or put in a covered container with plastic wrap set down right on the top of the pesto to keep out air. This help keeps the color nice and bright. Use within a couple days, or freeze for up to 6 months.

Notes

Note: If you want to go an extra step, keep the parsley on the stalk and dip it in boiling salty water for 30 seconds, then shock in ice water. This sets the color and will keep your pesto green much longer. 

Nutrition

Calories: 127kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 180mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 526IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @HuntGatherCook or tag #HankShaw!

Thanks for Sharing This!

1.1K shares

Filed Under: Featured, Italian, Recipe

Avatar for Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Avatar for ChrisChris says

    January 20, 2022 at 4:41 pm

    We bought walnuts for the tasty gallina en nogada so with some of extra nuts, we made this pesto in food processor. The walnuts again really pulled together flavours. So good and some leftover to freeze for later.

    Reply
  2. Avatar for NilouNilou says

    March 5, 2018 at 7:43 am

    We love pesto! Young wild dandelion greens are also a wonderful green for pesto in early spring.

    Do you ever add any acid? I find a few drops of lemon juice or champagne cinegar really brightens the flavor (but doesn’t help w/the color, of course 🙁

    Thanks for all the wonderful info and recipes… your site is quite a resource!

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      March 5, 2018 at 9:28 am

      Nilou: I never add acid to the pesto, but I do when I serve it. So a squeeze of lemon or lime right at the end.

      Reply
  3. Avatar for AstraeaAstraea says

    March 5, 2018 at 5:34 am

    Delicious. Just what I was looking for fo rlunch to day!

    You have not yet ansered my question What is “kosher salt.”

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      March 5, 2018 at 9:30 am

      Astrea: Clearly you don’t live in the US. Kosher salt is self explanatory, but in the kitchen we use it because it is free of additives and is a fairly coarse grind. I call for it so that we’re all using the same salt — if you used fine table salt, which often has additives, you’d be adding too much salt because I measure it out by volume, not weight.

      Reply
  4. Avatar for Patricia GadsbyPatricia Gadsby says

    March 5, 2018 at 4:39 am

    Invasive garlic mustard, picked young, also makes a nice pesto.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hank Shaw holding a rod and reel in the American River

Hi, my name is Hank Shaw; I’m a James Beard Award-winning author and chef. I started this site back in 2007 to help you get the most out of all things wild: fish, game, edible wild plants and mushrooms. I also write cookbooks, have a website dedicated to the intersection of food and nature, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

More about Hank...

Featured Recipes

Closeup of sliced, smoked venison backstrap on a platter
Venison 101: How to Cook Venison
pickled pike recipe
Pickled Pike
Slices of smoked venison roast on a cutting board.
Smoked Venison Roast
Conejo en adobo on a plate
Conejo en Adobo
A platter of fried walleye with lemon.
Fried Walleye
A plate of pine nut cookies.
Pine Nut Cookies

As Seen In

As seen on CNN, New York Times, Simply Recipes, Martha Stewart, Food and Wine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, and The Splendid Table

Never Miss a Recipe

Receive recipes direct to your inbox.

 

 

Back to Top
  • Home
  • Shop
  • Video Course
  • About
  • Podcast
  • Stories
  • Wild Game
  • Charcuterie
  • Fish
  • Gathering
Subscribe by email Connect on Facebook Connect on Pinterest Follow Me on Instagram

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

© 2023 Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, All Rights Reserved.

Site built by: Site by Status Forward

1.1K shares
  • Print
  • Pinterest
  • 684Facebook
  • WhatsApp
  • Save
  • Email
1.1K shares
  • 684