Zucchini Pesto Recipe

Spoonful of creamy homemade zucchini pesto scooped from a glass jar.

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My zucchini pesto is thick, rich, and bursting with fresh basil flavor. Roasting it first cooks off the extra moisture and gives the whole pesto a deeper, more concentrated flavor. My recipe is also nutless, so it's an easy one to make for people with allergies. Blend it all until smooth and toss with pasta, spread on a sandwich, or spoon over grilled chicken, in about 30 minutes.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Appetizer, condiment, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: American, Italian, Mediterranean

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 208kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

Roasted Zucchini:

1 lb zucchini
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp coarse kosher salt more or less to taste

Pesto:

roasted zucchini from above
2 oz fresh basil only thick stem removed
1/2 cup Italian or curly parsley packed
3 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp lemon juice juice from 1/2 lemon
3 oz block parmesan cheese chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
coarse kosher salt to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Roasting zucchini:

Preheat the oven to 425℉ and and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Wash, dry, and chop zucchini into pieces.
Mix it with some oil, Italian seasoning, and salt. Spread it on the prepared baking sheet and roast for 18-20 minutes. Take it out and let it cool a little bit.

Zucchini Pesto:

Transfer roasted zucchini into the blender (or a food processor) and add all remaining ingredients for the pesto into the blender with it.
Pulse until the pesto is completely smooth.
Store in a glass jar and let it cool to room temperature. Use it right away or cover air-tight with a lid and refrigerate to store.

To Make Zucchini Pesto Pasta:

Cook pasta according to the box instruction and right before draining the pasta, take out about a cup of cooking water.
Tip: if you're worries that you'll forget to take water out, set a cup in the sink and that way you will see it before draining pasta.
Add pasta back into the pot or into a bowl and add desired amount of zucchini pesto and just a splash of pasta cooking water, just enough to make it saucy.

Notes

For pasta: this pesto is enough to mix with about 1.5 lbs of pasta, depending on how saucy you'd like it.

Nutrition