29 Reviews of Zesto Pesto

From: Sashasmom

On Apr 5, 2005

This was excellent. I served it one night as an appetizer on toasted baguette and the next evening I put it on pasta. Thanks for the great recipe!

From: Skipper/Sy

On Mar 17, 2005

For the RSC#6, 2005 contest I had made and reviewed 3 recipes out of 190 which were entered. Now from the semi-finalists listing I have chosen this recipe to be my 4th review. I rarely eat pesto, however, after making this recipe I am now a "Zesto Pesto Eater". It was very, very good and easy to make. I liked the green coloring of the linguine and crunchy cashews too. Also, since I am single I cut the ingredients in half and still had perfect results. Thanks for this tasty creation.

From: MikesWife115

On Oct 18, 2007

I enjoyed this pesto, especially the addition of fresh spinach to it, which I've never done. The only issue I had was that I found three garlic cloves to be WAY too strong for me, and I love garlic. Obviously, its "zesto" pesto, so I should have anticipated that, but I found that I had to cut the overly intense garlic with some more nuts and oil. I do have to say that the flavor mellowed after two days in the fridge. As far as pesto recipes go, this one is a keeper!!

From: TOOLBELT DIVA

On Mar 24, 2005

Very simple, yet delicious recipe which can be prepared in advance and kept in the refrigerator. A great way to use up "the heel of the bottle." A clever variation of the popular pesto. While my preference for pesto is still pine nuts, cashews added an interesting nutty flavour. No criticism there. Zesto Pesto is especially useful for people who live alone. Prepare the Pesto, use it only as needed. I am going to recommend Zesto Pesto to my business women friends who do not have time to fuss over meal preparation. In fact, I shall print off several copies and distribute the recipe to my friends, along with a small bottle of Zesto Pesto, to get them started. Thank you so much for taking time to develop Zesto Pesto, and for not guarding your secret...

From: lemon-yellow

On Dec 5, 2008

Okay, let me confess that I was previously not the biggest Pesto fan. I thought it was okay. But no more...this is a great Pesto recipe! For my batch, I used several types of basil from our fall garden explosion, giving the end product a pretty green and purple dotted color. Spinach makes this pesto a bit less intense than some others, but seems to make the basil taste and smell even fresher. Cashews bump up the nutty flavor and texture, and I now like them more than pine nuts. I did make some minor changes. I added 1/4 cup of green olives, because I had a feeling that another layer of salty/sweet would work, and it did. I was out of white wine (argh!), so I substituted Sanpellegrino Limonata (Italian Lemon Soda). Next time I will make sure there is wine in the house before I start, but the Limonata did not hurt it a bit. In fact, it is probably a good non-alcoholic option. But wow, double the recipe if you want enough Pesto to make it to the pasta. Wandering spoons may cause it to mysteriously disappear. (FYI: a double recipe stuffs a Cuisinart to the brim.) By the way, Basil is very good for you. It's a great source of vitamin K, flavonoids, has anti-inflammatory properties, as well as being a natural anti-bacterial herb that can help make uncooked food (such as garden greens) safer to eat. 5+ stars. Thank you, evelyn/athens

From: AKillian24

On Dec 6, 2007

DH is a meat and potato kinda guy... but he loved this! I used it over chicken breast and cheese tortellini with sun-dried tomato french bread. Fanstastic - thanks for posting! Update 12/07: I love the 'skinny' version of this Pesto Sauce: I use a high quality white wine, double the amount called for and toss in some lemon juice in place of the full zest - then reduce the olive oil by about half. I also use reduced fat parmesan cheese. Fantastic! I've also noticed that (oddly enough) I preferthe cashews over pine nuts in this recipe.

From: San Marcos Sunshine

On Sep 3, 2005

Absolutely wonderful pesto!! I followed the rules except used Mauna Loa roasted macadamia baking pieces (from Trader Joe) rather than cashews. The snails always eat my garden basil, so Trader Joe to the rescue. They carry a big clamshell box for $1.89 this time of year. A salad spinner comes in handy to completely dry the baby spinach and basil. The Cuisinart and microplane zester make quick work of the final preparation, so I used all my favorite kitchen toys!! The addition of a bit of wine and lemon zest have to be the secrets to a marvelous mixture with a greener than grass color. We now discard all other pesto recipes. This one wins my Blue Ribbon.

From: NcMysteryShopper

On Feb 19, 2005

Great Pesto Recipe! I used it on bowtie noodles and then again on Chicken Pesto #21882 by Maine-iac. Wonderful flavor and nice color! Our three year old even dipped raw mushrooms in it and and ate them... and he hates mushrooms! Thanks for such a great recipe!

From: Maito

On Aug 23, 2009

Absolutely delicious! I can see why this won the contest. I decreased the amount of oil and salt. The spinach, wine and cashews blend into the final flavor, so that shouldn't scare anyone off. It went very well with a lemon pepper pappardelle. Thanks for your creation, Evelyn, it was very yummy!

From: CarrolJ

On Jul 16, 2009

This is a wonderful Pesto recipe. I am not normally a big spinach fan...but oh this is soooo good! No wonder it won a RSC contest!!!!!!