Pesto might be one of my favorite summer foods. In Liguria, Italy, the home of pesto, it is made with basil Genovese and often served with a small, dense, twisted pasta also native to Liguria called trofie. Traditionally in Pasta al Trofie, blanched red potatoes and green beans are tossed with the trofie and pesto.
Sadly, I haven’t found anyone who makes gluten free trofie, but I do so love fresh pesto! Right now while my patio pots are overflowing with fresh herbs and we have an abundance of green beans from the farm, I’m really loving making this recipe and using about a third of it as the topping for my Garlic & Herb Wild Salmon, about one third stirred into green beans prepared per these instructions from thekitchn.com and the final third we spoon over a side dish of rice. The perfect light summery dinner.
While it’s not traditional, I like to use half basil and half parsley in my pesto and I substitute walnuts for the traditional pine nuts, both for cost & availability reasons and because walnuts have so many health benefits! I increase the amount of nuts and add an extra pinch of sea salt to make up for the missing cheese, which YOU won’t miss at all, I promise.
Buon appetito!
Delicious Dairy Free Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves tightly packed
- 1 cup fresh flat leaf Italian parsley leaves
- 2 cloves fresh garlic
- 1/2 tsp sea salt plus more to taste
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper plus more to taste
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
- About 2/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Place first 6 ingredients (everything but olive oil) into food processor and pulse until finely chopped. With the food processor still running, gradually pour in the olive oil, until the pesto reaches a smooth and thick consistency. Taste and season with additional sea salt and pepper, as needed. Serve over pasta, vegetables, rice or anything your heart desires!
