A few weeks ago I made a batch of orzo with basil pesto. The recipe had originally been inspired by a recipe in a food magazine that used dill instead of basil. The recipe continued to eat at me because I was terribly curious if dill pesto would be as tasty and satisfying as basil pesto.
One day at the grocery store I grabbed one bunch of dill and decided I’d find out, for better or worse, if dill pesto is all that magazine cracked it up to be. The recipe from a few weeks ago remains the same, just the dill is different.
Dill Pesto
- 1 cup fresh dill, washed
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 package pasta
Cook the pasta according to package directions.
While pasta is cooking, prepare your pesto ingredients.
Put fresh dill, pine nuts, garlic cloves, and salt into a food processor or blender, and as it is blending pour olive oil into the blender. Once it is done blending it should look similar to this (and yes this is the basil, but same concept).
When the pasta has finished cooking, drain and rinse it under cold water, then mix the pesto and pasta together.
Verdict? I was surprised, but the dill was not as overpowering as I thought it might be. In fact, I realized how much the other ingredients really influence the taste of pesto. I have tended to believe that the primary flavor has been the basil, but the truth of the matter is that you’re tasting the pine nuts, olive oil and garlic just as much.
You can still taste the dill, but honestly, it didn’t taste tremendously different than the basil pesto. I’m sure if you were to put the two side by side and do a taste test you’d see – ah yes, that is basil, this is dill. But the dill did quite well as a pesto, and I’d recommend it to those of you who haven’t forayed into the realm of other herb pesto possibilities.
Hmmm… Now this makes me wonder what other herb pestos I should try. Any recommendations?
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Years later, but I recommend cilantro pesto. And this year I plan to try arugula pesto, too. Thanks for the dill pesto recipe.
i would love to try this. we have an abundance of dill this year, it’s growing like a weed in our herb garden….and this would be a tasty way to use some of it up. :) thanks for the idea!
I’ve been scared of trying pesto with cilantro. With your dill pesto discoveries, maybe it won’t be as intense as I think it will.
Your pasta and pesto look beautiful.
Maybe oregano?
Wow, I was just thinking that I should try cilantro pesto w/pumpkin seeds. Thank you for more pesto inspiration! Today I made it the usual way, which I’m not complaining about. Herbs are so great, aren’t they?!
Dill pesto sounds great!