Pesto

Michael Eisenwasser

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A bright, garlicky-tasting basil pesto made without raw garlic. The garlic flavor comes from garlic-infused olive oil.

Prep 10 min

Cook 1 min

Serves 8

Gluten-freeVegetarian

Ingredients

• 2 packed cups (about 50 g) fresh basil leaves, stems removed
• 1/2 cup (about 110 ml) garlic-infused olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup (about 55 g) finely grated parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
• 1/3 cup (about 45 g) pine nuts, lightly toasted
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cold water, to loosen (optional)

Instructions

Toast the pine nuts

1. Warm a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts and toast for 2 to 3 minutes, swirling the pan often, until lightly golden and fragrant.
2. Slide them onto a plate immediately so they don't keep cooking. Let cool for a few minutes before blending.

Blend

1. Add the basil, toasted pine nuts, parmesan, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and about half the garlic-infused oil to a food processor.
2. Pulse 8 to 10 times to break everything down, scraping the sides once or twice.
3. With the motor running, stream in the remaining garlic-infused oil until you have a thick, spoonable paste. For a looser sauce, blend in cold water a tablespoon at a time.
4. Taste and adjust with more salt, lemon, or pepper.

Store

1. Transfer to a clean jar. Smooth the top and pour a thin film of plain olive oil over the surface to slow browning.
2. Seal and refrigerate until ready to use.

Tips & Substitutions

• Swap pine nuts for walnuts or pumpkin seeds. Walnuts are low-FODMAP at 30 g (about 10 halves) per serve, and pumpkin seeds stay low at generous amounts. Both toast the same way and give you a slightly different flavor.
• Go dairy-free with nutritional yeast. Trade the parmesan for 1/4 cup nutritional yeast plus an extra pinch of salt. The umami hit is different but still satisfying on pasta.
• Don't skip the infused oil. This is where all the garlic flavor comes from. Homemade infused oil is stronger than most supermarket versions — if you're buying a commercial brand, you may want a little extra.
• Safe handling of homemade infused oil. If you made the oil yourself, strain out every bit of garlic solid before using it and keep it refrigerated. Garlic stored in unrefrigerated oil is a botulism risk. Commercial infused oils skip the safety concern entirely.
• Add a pinch of asafoetida bloomed in a teaspoon of warm infused oil if you want a sharper, more allium-forward edge. Check the label for wheat if you're gluten-free.
• Use a mortar and pestle for a more rustic texture. Traditional Ligurian pesto is pounded, not blended, and the result feels silkier on pasta.
• Freeze in ice cube trays for single-serve portions. Once frozen, pop the cubes into a freezer bag — each cube is roughly 1 tablespoon, perfect for stirring into soups or tossing with a plate of pasta.

Why This Works

Pine nuts stay under the serve limit. Monash lists pine nuts as low-FODMAP at 1 tablespoon (about 14 g) per serve; above that, they climb into high-FODMAP territory quickly. This recipe uses 1/3 cup (about 45 g) divided across 8 servings, which comes out to roughly 6 g per serving — comfortably under the 14 g ceiling. Start with 2 to 3 tablespoons of finished pesto per serving and you're well within range.

Garlic-infused oil instead of raw garlic. Raw and cooked garlic are high in fructans, and there's no serve size that makes a single clove low-FODMAP. Fructans aren't oil-soluble, though, so oil infused with garlic carries all the flavor without the FODMAPs. That's the whole reason this pesto works — the infused oil does the job a clove of garlic would do in a standard recipe.

Parmesan within serve. Hard aged cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano are low-FODMAP at 40 g per serve because most of the lactose breaks down during aging. The 55 g of parmesan here, split across 8 servings, lands at about 7 g per serving — well under the limit, and the intensity of aged parm means you don't need more.

Storage

Refrigerate in a sealed jar with a film of olive oil on top for up to 1 week. Freeze in ice cube trays or small portions for up to 3 months; thaw in the fridge overnight or stir a frozen cube straight into hot pasta. Pesto will darken on the surface as basil oxidizes — scrape off the discolored layer and the green underneath is still good.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.