Lemon Balm Pesto

4.75 from 27 votes

Flavorful lemon balm pesto – the best thing you can do when you have a huge bush of lemon balm growing in your garden.

Prep Time20

Total Time20

Course: Preserves and Canning Recipes

Cuisine: German, Italian

Servings: about 350 g/ 12.2 oz

Calories: 67kcal

Author: Adina

Prepare lemon balm: Wash and dry the herbs thoroughly. Remove the leaves from the stalks and weigh the needed amount, only the leaves.
4.5 oz lemon balm leaves
Process herbs: Chop them roughly, place them in a food processor, and process to a rough paste. Scrape the walls of the machine.
Add cubed cheese, whole almonds, roughly chopped garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and oil. Process to obtain a smooth paste. Scrape the walls of the food processor a few times in between.
2 oz Parmesan + ⅓ cup whole almonds + 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice + ½ cup extra virgin olive oil + 5 garlic cloves + fine sea salt and ground black pepper
Transfer to small jars, pressing well with a teaspoon to avoid air holes. Place the lids on the jars, but don't screw them too tightly if you intend to freeze the pesto.

Weigh just the leaves, not the stalks.
Cheese: Freshly grated cheese from a wedge. Pecorino Romano is great as well.
Almonds: With their brown, soft peel still on, they don’t have to be blanched.
Use a mild olive oil; it should not be too bitter, you will taste it if it is. A fruity, mild sort would be great. As an alternative, use a milder oil, like avocado oil or a mix of olive oil and a neutral-tasting vegetable oil, like canola.
The recipe can be easily scaled. I always make the triple batch in the Thermomix, but that is a large food processor. If you scale the recipe, make sure that everything will fit in your food processor.
Storage: The lemon balm pesto keeps well in the fridge for at least two weeks. To keep it for longer, freeze it; it will keep for at least 1 year.
The nutrition was calculated considering that 350 g/ 12.2 oz pesto would be around 23 tablespoons of pesto, and you would need 2 for one serving. That is, of course, not very accurate, but the best I can offer. The whole batch has 1507 kcal.