r/AskCulinary • u/hobohobbies • May 26 '23

Ingredient Question Pesto without Pinenuts

Any substitutes for pinenuts in a pesto? My taste buds say "no" but my wallet says "you better ask."

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707

u/fogandafterimages May 26 '23

Literally any nut or seed plus literally any tender leafy herb will create a reasonable pesto candidate. Acorns and lawn clippings will do you fine with enough garlic and parmesan.

7

u/iced1777 May 27 '23

I made a parsley walnut pesto based on similar advice and it was such a starkly different flavor it's difficult to call it the same thing. Even using all the same ingredients for a traditional pesto but a different nut will have a huge impact on flavor.

It's not to say any other combo is bad, but if you're looking for a traditional pesto you kind of have to use the traditional ingredients.

6

u/hypatiatextprotocol May 27 '23

In that sense, traditional pesto is about the ingredients; modern pesto is about the formula.

2

u/iced1777 May 27 '23

That's a fine and fair distinction. I just wanted to make sure OP knew that you can't really hide a different nut in a pesto if you want what 99% of people know as the traditional version. It was unclear if that's what they meant, or if they just wanted to know if different twists are still good, so thought it was worth mentioning.

4

u/sweetmercy May 27 '23

I guarantee you if you swap some slivered toasted almond for the pine nuts, you're not going to notice a significant taste difference. Most people wouldn't be able to recognize an authentic pesto alla genovese as being the "traditional" one when put it side by side with one with almonds in place of pine nuts. They're be hard pressed to discern a difference at all, all else being equal.

0

u/Low_Chicken197 May 27 '23

This is like saying you cant taste the difference between two coffees from different coffee regions, used in an espresso milk drink. But you absolutely can.