Gordon Ramsay’s pesto is bright, loose and basil-heavy, made with fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts and Parmesan, pulsed in a blender for 45 seconds. Five ingredients, no cooking, and the basil does all the talking.
The recipe comes from his official restaurant website, where he serves it with linguine and shellfish. Across his cookbooks he makes two more versions: a sage and walnut pesto in Ultimate Fit Food and a sundried tomato pesto in Ultimate Home Cooking. Comparing all three shows how he adjusts the technique depending on the herb.
The thing most people won’t notice is what’s missing. There’s no garlic in his basil pesto. Most recipes online treat garlic as essential, but Ramsay leaves it out entirely so the basil flavour isn’t competing with anything. His sage walnut version does have garlic because sage is strong enough to stand up to it.
Gordon Ramsay Pesto Recipe
Course: SaucesCuisine: British, ItalianDifficulty: Easy4
servings5
minutes290
kcal5
minutesGordon Ramsay’s basil pesto from his official restaurant site. Five ingredients, 45 seconds in a blender, no garlic. The basil-to-oil ratio is what makes it loose enough to coat pasta properly.
Ingredients
175g fresh basil, washed
150g extra virgin olive oil
30g pine nuts
3 tbsp Parmesan, grated
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Blitz everything: Place the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, Parmesan, salt and pepper into a blender. Pulse for 45 seconds until smooth but not completely liquid. You want some texture left.
- Check the consistency: The pesto should be loose enough to coat the back of a spoon. If it’s too thick, add a splash more olive oil and pulse again.
- Taste and adjust: Add more salt, pepper or Parmesan if needed. Use straight away or store in a jar with a thin layer of olive oil on top to stop it browning.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay leave garlic out of his basil pesto?
His restaurant basil pesto has no garlic at all, which goes against almost every pesto recipe online. But his sage and walnut pesto in Ultimate Fit Food does include a clove.
The difference is the herb. Fresh basil is delicate and floral. Garlic would bulldoze it. Sage is punchy and earthy, so it can hold its own against garlic without being drowned out. He matches the aromatics to the herb, not to tradition.
Why is his olive oil ratio so high?
150g of oil to 175g of basil is almost 1:1 by weight. Most home recipes use half that, which is why homemade pesto often comes out thick and clumpy.
More oil gives you a loose, spoonable pesto that coats pasta evenly instead of sitting in lumps. If you’ve ever wondered why restaurant pesto flows and yours sits in a blob, the oil ratio is why.
Why does Ramsay use a blender for basil but a mortar for sundried tomato?
His restaurant basil pesto goes into a blender and gets pulsed for 45 seconds. His sundried tomato pesto in Ultimate Home Cooking is “put into a mortar and pound with a pestle until completely broken down.”
The blender gives a smooth, emulsified texture that coats pasta like a sauce. The mortar gives a rougher, chunkier paste with more bite, which is what you want when you’re spooning it on top of his creamy tomato soup. Different texture for different purpose.
Does pesto keep well?
Better than any other sauce we’ve covered so far. In Ultimate Fit Food, Ramsay says to “make a double batch and keep it in the fridge for up to a week.” Pour a thin layer of olive oil over the top of the jar before sealing to stop the basil oxidising and turning brown.
It freezes well too. Spoon it into ice cube trays, freeze, then pop the cubes into a bag. One cube is roughly enough for a single portion of pasta.
What does Ramsay serve pesto with beyond pasta?
In Ultimate Fit Food he says the sage walnut version is “great with chicken, guinea fowl or pork as well as roasted vegetables or stirred into a risotto.” The basil version works the same way.
Toss it through prawn pasta instead of a tomato sauce for something lighter. Stir a spoonful into mushroom risotto right before serving for a hit of freshness. Or spread it on toast under a poached egg for a quick lunch.
