Oregano Pesto & Thyme Pesto, for a home table

Oregano pesto and thyme pesto are made with home grown fresh herbs. Make a bunch and freeze them for a longer storage.

Summer is a bounty season of home-grown fresh herbs. We are growing a variety of herbs and made a couple of herb pesto with them the other day. One is oregano pesto and the other is thyme pesto.

Each pesto has it own unique fragrance and the flavor. We can wait to enjoy them over the pasta, crispy bread, and/or chicken or beef. Check out our tutorial video for how we made them.

What tool do we need to make the pesto?

We used a food processor. It is short, direct, and no fuss method of making pesto. You can also use knife to mince herbs, nuts, and garlic finely to do the job but will take some time to do so.

What’s in oregano pesto?

Fresh oregano, of course, walnuts, garlic, Pecorino cheese, and olive oil. We highly recommend to toast the walnuts to bring the intense nutty flavor. Pulling the oregano leaves backward toward the tip of sprig will help remove leaves from the stem easily.

What’s in the thyme pesto?

Fresh thyme, spinach leaves, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil. Thyme is strong herb and a little can go a long way. We mixed with spinach to tone down a little bit and we think it was just steady. We love the bright green color the spinach added.

How to store the pesto?

Freshly made pesto sauce can keep in the fridge about a week. The olive oil might solidify in the fridge after a couple of days but it will liquefy back to normal if you bring it to the room temperature. Pesto freezes beautifully. Store pesto in an airtight container and you can freeze it up to a year.

• Prep: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Oregano Pesto

• 1 cup fresh oregano leaves, stem removed
• 1/2 cup walnut, toasted
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper

Thyme Pesto

• 1/2 cup thyme leaves, stem removed
• 1-1/2 cup spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper

Method

1. To make the oregano pesto; put oregano leaves, walnuts, garlic and cheese in a food processor, pulse a few times to chop finely. Slowly adding the oil, pulse again until it combines together. Season with salt and pepper according to your taste.
2. To make the thyme pesto; put thyme leaves, spinach, pine nuts, garlic and cheese in a food processor, pulse a few times to chop finely. Slowly adding the oil, pulse again until it combines together. Season with salt and pepper according to your taste.