Pesto with Benefits

• tempo totale: 13 minutes

Ingredienti

The biggest cost when making pesto is the extra-virgin olive oil and the Parmesan cheese. But you make a larger jar than you would buy in the supermarket and it also freezes well.

Here I’ve used pistachio and pumpkin seeds instead of the traditional Pine nuts. Pumpkin seeds contain magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese and copper. Pistachio nuts were a rich source of the vitamins, including vitamin B6 but also 2 special antioxidants called Zeazanthin which is important for eye health, as well as lutein. These are both what we call carotenoids which are beneficial plant compounds.

All you need is a food processor and about 5 minutes of your time.

Green Pesto

80 g Parmesan cheese

2 cloves of garlic

80g Greens (I used a mix of basil, rocket (arugula) and spinach

80 g pistachio and pumpkin seeds combined.

160g /ml extra Virgin olive oil.

1 teaspoon of salt I used Malden.

Istruzioni

Roast the pumpkin and pistachio nuts. I used an air fryer at 180° C for 4 minutes. Alternatively roast in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Who allow them to completely cool before making the pesto otherwise you will melt the cheese and it will taste terrible! 🫤

Grate the Parmesan cheese by hand, or if your food processor is strong enough, blitz it in small pieces to form a powder.

3.Add all the other ingredients and process until smooth, but slightly chunky.

Transfer to a glass jar (try and choose the right size jar.

Keep in the fridge. Add a layer of olive oil to the top, to prevent oxidation or discolouring.

6.This also freezes well, so you can split it between two glass jars. As long as you only fill it to 3/4 full, to allow for expansion, you can freeze it in the jar.

I use this with so many foods on the side of my plate. Mozzarella, eggs, chicken, pasta, rice, with my salad, in a soup etc.

Dominique xx | Dominique Ludwig - Nutritionist MSc.