Ahhhh pesto….it is quite possibly my favorite food. I make all different types and put it on just about everything. Seriously, like everything. The beauty of pesto is that you can use all different types of nuts and seeds. In this recipe I use basil and pine nuts. I’ve also made Pumpkin Pesto with pumpkin seeds that was ridiculously delicious too. The possibilities are endless… you can use sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, cashews… you can use different cheeses besides Parmesan like Manchego, Asiago or Romano…… you can also substitute parsley, cilantro, spinach or arugula for the basil. Get creative!
Simple Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 ounces extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1½ ounces pine nuts or nuts of choice, walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds etc
- 2 ounces parmesan cheese
- 2 ounces fresh basil leaves torn
Instructions
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Add ingredients to Vita-Mix (or other high speed blender or food processor) in the order displayed.
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If using Vitamix: Turn machine to Variable Speed 1, then increase quickly to Variable Speed 7, blend for 1 minute. If using food processor: blend until smooth.
Some more recipes with pesto in them…
Avocado Tomato Mozzarella Panini
Pesto Arugula Yellow Tomato Pizza with Fresh Basil
Gnocchi Spinach and Tomatoes in Pesto Sauce
Sauteed vegetables with Pumpkin Seed Pesto
ENJOY!!
Oh and just in case you didn’t hear the news, MY BOOK HAS BEEN RELEASED!! That’s me, sick as a dog, but SO EXCITED to finally hold my book!
My hands were shaking so bad flipping through the pages…it was like giving birth to my 4th baby 🙂
I hope you like it. I am SO proud of it and can’t wait for everyone to read it! Go check out Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble if you’d like to order it. And if you like it, PLEASE leave me a good review 🙂
Thank you again for all of your love, support and encouragement!
Julia says
January 14, 2014 at 7:00 pmUm … this looks great, but cheese definitely is NOT vegan. Can you just leave it out or do you need to change the proportions of the other ingredients to make the texture right?
lauren says
January 14, 2014 at 7:42 pmYes Julia you are absolutely right, cheese is definitely not vegan 🙂 You can just take it out and all the other ingredients stay the same. Thanks!