Basil Sauce
A very simple and quick basil sauce that goes exceptionally well with Italian pasta, with salads of mozzarella and vegetables, on bruschetta, or as an addition to minestrone and on pizza. Fish baked on the grill or in the oven is delicious served with a green sauce made from the best olive oil, a hard cheese and fresh green basil.
This sauce takes 10 mins to make and needs no cooking at all. The ingredients are simply chopped and mixed.
It is a simplified version of pesto, the famous Italian pesto alla genovese, which is made with Genoese basil, pecorino, pine nuts and the best Ligurian olive oil, with garlic and other ingredients added.
How to make a simple basil sauce: an easy step-by-step recipe.
Ingredients
100 ml
- Fresh green basil 1 bunch
- Hard aged cheese 50 g
- Extra virgin olive oil 3–4 tbsp
- Salt a pinch
- Ground black pepper to taste
Step-by-step recipe
Prepare the basil and cheese
Rinse a bunch of green basil and pat it dry. If the basil has wilted a little, soak it in cold water for 1–2 hours first.
Get the best olive oil you can, sold labeled Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and a piece of good hard cheese.
Don’t use a cheese of unknown origin. Basil sauce is usually made in small amounts, so it is worth buying a piece of Parmesan, pecorino, Grana Padano or a good aged cheese you know well.
Pick the leaves off the basil sprigs. You can throw away the stems, as they are tough and not eaten.
Finely chop the basil leaves with a knife and put them in a small bowl.
Grate the hard cheese and add it to the basil.
Season the cheese and basil with a pinch of fine salt and add plenty of pepper, maybe even a little more than seems necessary. Mix everything.
Mix in the oil
Add 3–4 tbsp olive oil and mix well. The sauce is ready to use for pasta, bruschetta or for serving dishes.
For a more delicate, smooth sauce, I suggest blitzing everything again with an immersion blender after mixing in the oil.
It is best not to store a sauce of green basil leaves, hard cheese and olive oil, but to make it right before serving. Then you can fully enjoy its flavor and aroma.
Calories and macros
446 kcal
100 g
- Protein9.8 g9% of kcal
- Fat44.9 g90% of kcal
- Carbs1.7 g1% of kcal
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.
To Get It Right
With garlic
For a garlic sauce, 1 small clove is enough: crush it with salt or grate it on a fine grater and add it to the basil together with the cheese. Classic pesto is made with garlic too.
To keep the sauce bright green
Chop the basil with a sharp knife and don’t bruise it. Blend only briefly, a few seconds: with longer blending the sauce warms up and darkens.
Ways to vary it
- a few drops of lemon juice for freshness;
- a handful of pine nuts or walnuts, which brings the sauce closer to pesto;
- a little more oil makes the sauce thinner, handy for drizzling.
Have your own trick for this recipe?
Pull chopper for garlic and onionAliExpress
Oil sprayerAliExpress
Kitchen scale up to 5 kgAliExpress
Vegetable chopper with handleAliExpress
Measuring cups and spoonsAliExpress
Peeler with wooden handleAliExpressQuestions and answers
What is basil sauce called?
The best known is Italian pesto (pesto alla genovese). This sauce is a simplified version: no pine nuts or garlic, just basil, hard cheese and olive oil.
Can you make basil sauce for winter?
It is best not to store this sauce but to make it right before eating, when the flavor and aroma of the basil are at their fullest. It takes 10 minutes.
Does basil sauce go with meat?
Yes, it is good with meat and kebabs, and with fish baked on the grill or in the oven. Spoon the sauce onto the finished hot dish without heating it.
How do you make basil sauce for a salad?
Add a little more olive oil to thin the sauce and dress the salad with it just before serving. It is especially good in salads with mozzarella and vegetables. For other options, see the recipe for salad dressings.
Can you make the sauce right in a blender?
Yes: put the basil leaves, grated cheese, oil, salt and pepper in the blender jar and blitz. The sauce comes out completely smooth, while basil chopped with a knife gives a coarser sauce with pieces of leaf.