Method

Lightly toast the pine nuts in a small frying pan over a low heat, shaking occasionally. Lightly toasting will preserve the creamy flavour, but if you want a more nutty flavour then toast them until they are golden.

Put the toasted pine nuts into a food processor along with the basil, Parmesan, garlic, and olive oil.

Process until smooth and season with a pinch of sea salt.

Freezing

Generally, a recipe like this will provide more green pesto than you need at the time. Pesto will freeze well, and the various different methods you can use are all about the most practical ways of dividing up the quantity for use later, depending on what you might need it for. The most common method is to use an ice cube tray. This will provide handy ice-cubed sized lumps and you can easily slip out as many as you need. Just freeze them in an ice-cube tray first then bag them up.

Another method is to spoon quantities (we used 2 tablespoons pictured here) into freezer bags.

A third method is to line a small baking tray with waxed paper or baking parchment, then spread out the pesto evenly to about ¼-inch / 6mm thick, then gently press another sheet of waxed paper or parchment on top. Stick this in the freezer for a couple of hours to firm up, then break up the sheet of pesto into shards small enough to fit into a freezer bag, and return to the freeze. Then, whenever you need it, open the bag and break off as much as you need.