Ingredient

Pine nuts Recipes

2 recipes with pine nuts for weeknights, meal prep, and quick ingredient searches. Choose by time, cuisine, and what is in your kitchen.

2 recipes

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🇮🇹ItalyEasy

Sauces and Dips

Pesto

Pine nuts and garlic pounded with fresh basil, sharp Pecorino, and fruity olive oil into a vivid green sauce. Made properly in a mortar, the texture stays slightly coarse and the basil flavor stays bright, not bruised.

18 min570 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick🥑Keto

★4.7

Italian Pesto al Limone (Ligurian Basil and Lemon Pesto)

🇮🇹ItalyEasy

Sauces and Dips

Italian Pesto al Limone (Ligurian Basil and Lemon Pesto)

Pesto al limone is the Ligurian variation of classic Pesto alla Genovese with the addition of lemon zest and juice — turning the herb-paste into a fresh citrus-herb sauce. The combination of fresh Genovese basil, toasted pine nuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, garlic, lemon, and delicate Ligurian olive oil produces a bright emerald-green sauce with a floral-citrus lift that classical pesto lacks. Origins are the Liguria coastline (Cinque Terre, Portofino, Genoa region), home to Italy's finest basil DOP and world-class olive oils. Lemon is the key differentiator: the acid balances olive oil richness, brightens the basil, stabilizes the emerald colour longer than classical pesto, and turns the sauce into a versatile year-round condiment. A separate Procida-style lemon pesto exists from southern Italy (parsley + mint + walnuts, no basil), but this is the Ligurian school. Active 15 minutes including pine nut toasting. Yields about 250 ml, serves 6 as pasta sauce or condiment.

15 min210 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

★4.8

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basil parmesan olive oil lemon