Classic pesto ingredients are blended with miso to create an absolutely delicious pesto/spread that can be used in a multitude of ways- in soup, on bread, crackers, smeared over veggies or chicken before roasting. The possibilities are endless and the flavor is uniquely wonderful as anything enhanced with miso is.
What you’ll love about this recipe!
🍋 Bright flavor: the miso adds umami and a rich, savory flavor, but the lemon gives it a great punchy brightness that is a very welcome combo.
🍗🥦 Versatility: this pesto can be used in so many ways (similar to regular Genovese pesto), from topping roasted veggies, rubbing on a chicken before roasting, tossing with pasta, even mixing some with oil as a salad dressing, it’s flavor enhances many dishes.
🧄 Garlicky: I especially love the level of garlic in this pesto. Sometimes raw garlic needs to be kept in check so it does not over power a pesto, but mixed with the miso, in this recipe, the garlic really adds great flavor.
🍃 Herbaceous: In traditional pesto, basil is the main flavor. In this pesto the combination of herbs lends an herby flavor, but the blend makes the flavor less dominant.
🤩 New flavors: The whole is more than the sum of the parts with this recipe, whereby the miso adds so much and melds so well with the blend of herbs, lemon and garlic. It’s a nice change of pace from a cheesy or basil driven pesto.
Ingredient notes
- Mixed herbs: using a handful of basil, parsley, thyme and sage creates a complexity of flavor. You can eliminate sage if it’s too strong for you, or sub in cilantro or another fresh green herb. I encourage you to try and use equal parts of 3-4 fresh herbs, however, for a nice blend (except for rosemary, which would be too strong and not suitable for blending up fine).
- Miso: this recipe uses white miso, the milder miso, fermented for less time. It has a nice mild flavor (salty too). See info box for more on miso.
- Traditional pesto ingredients: walnuts, lemon, garlic and olive oil round out the pesto flavors in this recipe. You can use pine nuts. I use walnuts because sometimes I find pine nuts too bitter. I use raw walnuts for milder flavor (versus toasted walnuts).
What is miso paste
Miso is a fermented bean paste that is salty but also has a complex flavor that makes it a great ingredient for many recipes. The blend of both fermented soy beans and rice, combined with the amount of time the paste is fermented, creates different types of miso.
Step-by-step instructions
Prepare the herbs: once you have chosen the blend of herbs, be sure to thoroughly rinse them (especially if picked from your garden), before chopping them. Herbs with woody stems like thyme, need to have the leaves stripped from the stems, where as the stems of parsley and basil can be included (sage can go either way- depending on the plant).
Roughly chop the walnuts and garlic and juice lemon: Since the pesto will be heavily blended in the food processor, you can just quickly roughly chop the walnuts and garlic. Juice the lemon, but discard any seeds (they are bitter).
Blend the ingredients: First you’ll blend the herbs, nuts and garlic, then you will add in the miso and lemon, and finally, you will drizzle in the oil, with the processor running.
Process for up to a minute: depending on the size of your processer and the sharpness of your blade, you will process for about a minute. The goal is to achieve a smooth green consistency.
Above: Here is the first stage of blending the ingredients. This shows the herbs, garlic and nuts ground to a pretty fine consistency. Once the miso, lemon and olive oil are added the ingredients will be able to blend into a pure green spread consistency.
Tips for making and serving this recipe
- Serving suggestions: make my Miso Herb Roasted Chicken with Spiced Blueberry Vinaigrette, my Roasted Vegetables with Miso Herb Pesto Over Jasmine Rice, or Modern Miso Minestrone soup, both of which are upcoming! Or, just toss it with pasta, or eat on a bagette, you can’t go wrong. Even use a tablespoon of the pesto, mixed with 1/4 cup of olive oil for a great salad dressing.
- Storing: this miso herb pesto keeps wonderfully in the fridge for over a week, due to the miso paste, which is already fermented. The flavor improves with time, in fact.
- Blending: because miso is a substantial paste of ground soy beans and rice, it will not allow the pesto to become runny/drizzly. So, because of this, it would be much harder combine the ingredients in a blender (not enough liquid). I have done it in my small Beast blender with some work, but the food processor works the best.
Above: just one of the many ways to use this garlicky miso herb pesto- over roasted veggies. Stay tuned for recipe!
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Garlicky Miso Herb Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 cups mixed fresh herbs, chopped (parsley, basil, thyme, sage (see notes))
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped (can sub pine nuts)
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 4 small garlic cloves (use fewer if they are not small)
- 4 tbsp white miso (this is the milder type of miso)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Method:
- Place the 4 cups mixed fresh herbs, chopped, 1/2 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped, and 4 small garlic cloves in a food processor and blend until everything is finely ground.
- Add in the 4 tbsp white miso and 1 lemon, juiced and continue to blend into a paste consistency.
- Gradually add in the 1/2 cup olive oil with the processor running, and run the processor for a minute or so, to get a smooth, green consistency. See notes.
- Use right away, or refrigerate covered for a week or more, to use as you like. The flavor only gets better. See post for additional tips and suggestions for using.
