Homemade pesto - it doesn't work

[payaklw]

Is it just me or is there no way to make pesto that is edible at home? I have tried several times recently and it never turns out like the pesto you buy in a jar - it's never the right taste or texture no matter what I do. I am clearly missing something.

Also wanted to try and make my own hummus but I'm feeling life's too short now given my pesto failures

AIBU - yes you can make edible pesto at home which is better than supermarket option

YANBU - let's just cut my losses and buy ready-made

You can definitely make lovely ( although not cheap) pesto at home.
What issue do you have with the pesto you are making?

I used dried during lockdown when DH bought a sackful- once even tried shelling them - they're fine but tbh couldn't tell the difference from tinned.

Better than bought anyway as you can make it to suit your taste.

I've made it a couple of times. The first time, I didn't understand how much garlic to put in so it tasted like pure garlic hell 😂 The second time I followed the recipe properly and it was lovely. You cannot beat the taste of real fresh pecorino cheese yummmm!!!!! Of course, I'm very lazy now and just buy jars of the stuff. Now on red chilli pesto, because ever since someone said that green pesto tasted like pine cleaner (I mean who the eff swigs that?) I've been abit put off.

If you prefer jar stuff, fine just get that?

otherwise the beauty of homemade pesto is you can adapt it to how you prefer it! A bit more garlic, looser texture add more oil, more salt my dc make pesto and I stopped buying pine nuts, thought we’d notice but we’ve got used to it and don’t use any nuts. if you do buy pine nuts it’s best to toast them first.

We use the whole leaf, stalks n’ all in a mini processor. Which gives it a ‘wetter’ more runny texture, pestle and mortar is coarser.

I hate shop bought pesto but eat my homemade vegan version all the time with pasta and on toast with mushrooms

3/4 blender filled with blanched spinach/kale
1/4 almonds
Splash of olive oil
Splash of lemon juice
Generous spoon of garlic granules
Lots of Salt and pepper

If it doesn't come together I add some of the blanching water a little at a time until it is smooth

Then I portion it up and freeze.

Haven't RTFT but I make pesto with nasturtium leaves, flowers and seed pods.

My general rule is: if it’s better being bought in a shop don’t bother making it at home.

So much yummy pesto and hummus on the market just go to the supermarket!

Home made pesto also has a very short shelf life - 24h after making , it tastes like swamp.

OP I've quite some experience of humour having lived in different Arabic speaking countries. There is no "humour recipe". Everybody alters it. Everybody thinks theirs is the best. They're all better than anything you buy here in the shops. Some have more tahini, some have more lemon juice - some have hardly any - some have water, some have lots of olive oil, some have more/less salt etc. So just take a BBC recipe and then play around with it. You really need to leave it in the food processor longer than you think though, especially if you're not shelling each individual chickpea (who has life to spare for that!).

Pesto, well, that one is hit and miss for me. No idea why!

I don’t like the jarred version, so my home made stuff always tastes better in my opinion. It needs a lot of seasoning and it’s expensive to make so I usually freeze leftovers

are you using crappy jarred pesto as your bench mark or is it Tesco’s finest?

you must have for your proportions wrong.

jarred pesto is an abomination.

Humous is super easy - please do try that, it’s also far nicer than shop stuff.

I'm in Italy and nobody where I live would dream of making their own pesto. (See also pasta, pizza etc)
I'm British and buying into the whole Italian momma handmade everything thing about 25 years ago had a go at pesto. It was fine, but just not worth the faff and the expense.
Pesto in jars is very different from fresh chilled though. The taste of fresh chilled is more like when you make it yourself, whereas the taste is much more concentrated in jars.

I make homemade pesto with toasted pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, basil and a bit of salt. It’s much better than store bought. I freeze it and add the Parmesan/pecorino when I use it. It doesn’t freeze so well with the cheese. I use a food processor - pestle and mortar would be hard to get the right consistency.

Some of the pesto recipes here are giving “first comment on a food blog” vibes. “Delicious! I substituted the basil for weeds, the pine nuts for some stale cereal, left out the cheese and added Marmite for flavour, and used chilli instead of garlic.”

Anyway the best pesto is Allegra McEvedy’s pistachio pesto, which I make DP make to compensate for his truly terrible homemade hummus. Some things are worth paying for and those are hummus, baba ganoush, pesto, Pizza Express salad dressing.

And yours says "the best pesto is..." and then says that pesto is worth paying for instead. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Can I ask - those who make homemade hummus, how long can you keep it in the fridge for? My vegetarian DD is the only one in our house who really loves hummus, so with shop-bought sometimes struggles to finish a pot on her own before it passes its use-by date.

Great tip with the freezing @Dustybarn

have not read the thread but what is hedgerow paste?

The really easy hummus recipe will easily last for a week in an airtight container @MotherofPearl 😋

Both homemade pesto and hummus will keep for ages as long as moisture doesn't get to them. Pesto is full of oil which preserves. As pp says, airtight container in the fridge.

Its because it doesn't have the additives in it. I don't eat any processed food at all so I've just got used to the non processed version/

I LOVE my homemade hummus, like the best shop one x 1,000. HOWEVER the reason for that is that it takes a fucking lifetime, soaking dried chickpeas and taking the skin off every one of them by hand and I just don’t have the time or patience any more.

hahahah yes! “I can’t eat pesto.”

Personally I can't stand jarred pesto, but if that's what you enjoy then there's no reason to make homemade pesto because they're nothing alike.

Thanks @CosmosQueen. I'm going to encourage DD to make herself a batch this weekend.

We don't eat a lot of processed food, but do buy some pre-made things like hummus, and I'm trying hard to gradually wean us off these as much as possible (within reason!).