Classic Pistou

The classic French pistou is an olive oil and basil sauce that looks like pesto without the pine nuts! It adds a touch of freshness to any dish.

Fancy a pesto without pine nuts? Attempt Pesto! Pistou is pesto’s classic French cousin, and it’s even easier: All you need is basil, garlic, and olive oil. Mash it into a paste and you have a thick sauce that’s great for dipping and drizzling. In fact, we might like it just as much as classic basil pesto. It’s like a nut and dairy free pesto that has just as much flavor. Come and experience the magic!

pesto ingredients

Pistou is a classic French sauce from Provence made with olive oil, basil and garlic. It’s like an Italian pesto without the pine nuts or parmesan cheese. Some modern pesto recipes add cheese, but it’s basically just three ingredients. Pistou is served as a condiment or as a dip. It is also famously used as a garnish for pesto soup, a minestrone-like soup. To make pesto you need 3 ingredients plus salt:

• Extra virgin olive oil
• basil
• Garlic

Use a small blender or mortar and pestle for the pesto

The traditional way to make pesto is to mash it into a sauce (similar to pesto) with a mortar and pestle. It’s easier and quicker to use a hand blender. Here are some notes on the methods:

• Hand blender or small blender: A small blender is essential here since you will have a small amount of sauce. A hand blender is great (and works for soups, too).
• Mortar and pestle : A mortar and pestle is the traditional way of making pesto, and it’s fun to mash it up if you have one handy. It takes longer than the blender method, and the basil can get stringy because it doesn’t need to mash much to create friction like a pesto.

Pistou is a dairy-free pesto without pine nuts

Pesto is a great option for people with dietary restrictions who want to enjoy the flavors of a traditional pesto. This classic French sauce is a pesto version with no pine nuts and is a dairy-free pesto since it doesn’t contain parmesan. Because these two ingredients are missing, pesto has a lighter texture than pesto: it’s not as thick and creamy.

There are other methods to make pesto without pine nuts, including cashew pesto or walnut pesto. There’s also vegan pesto that’s dairy-free but replaces the cheese with ingredients. But pistou is a specially made sauce without those ingredients: it tastes wonderfully fresh and garlicky on its own.

For an evergreen pesto, blanch the basil

Here’s a little trick: leftover pesto will turn dark green to brown once it’s set. If you plan on keeping this pesto on hand for leftovers, you might want to blanch the basil first. Here’s what you need to know:

• brightening is a cooking method in which you cook vegetables until they are tender and crispy and then dip them in ice water to stop the cooking process. This includes the light green color of the vegetable turning brown.
• Cook only 30 seconds to 1 minute. The cooking time is fast: it just has to be very green! Place basil in a small saucepan of boiling water and cook until light green, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Immediately immerse in an ice bath. This stops the cooking process and binds the color. Once the leaves have cooled, remove them from the water and squeeze out as much water as possible.

Ways to serve pesto

You can use the pesto for garnishing, dipping and most ways to use a pesto. The only exception is the pasta: it’s not as thick and crispy as pesto, so expect a light coating of olive oil. We recommend it more to garnish soups and stews or to drizzle on bread or salads. Here are a few ideas:

More basil recipes

This pesto recipe is the perfect use for a big bunch of fresh basil! Some other great basil recipes you’ll love:

This pistou recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.