A delicious healthy recipe from our Co-Founder and Nutrition Director, Louise Keats.
Made with nuts, garlic, lemon and greens, this pesto is one of the most nutrient-dense foods imaginable, so I try to use it whenever I can. Plus, it’s totally delicious! Cashews are a great source of resistant starch so they get a big gut health tick from me.
When you’re time poor, it’s great to have on hand to spoon on to a jacket potato or a boiled egg – or even just some sourdough toast – for an instant, tasty meal.
I’ve included Thermomix instructions for those of you who have a Thermomix.
Gluten-free, Vegetarian, see also Vegan and Dairy-Free option
INGREDIENTS
- 30 g Parmesan cheese, cut into pieces (or use nutritional yeast for dairy-free/vegan option)
- 1 large garlic clove
- 60 g cashews or almonds (activated or dry roasted)
- 100 g fresh baby spinach leaves
- 25 g fresh coriander leaves
- Generous pinch sea salt
- 2 tbs (40g) lemon juice
- 3 tbs (60g) extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
- Place Parmesan, garlic and nuts into a food processor or high-powered blender and process until finely chopped (Thermomix: 8 sec/speed 8). Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula.
- Add spinach, coriander and salt and process until well chopped (Thermomix: 15 sec/speed 6, mixing with aid of spatula). Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula, add lemon juice and process until finely chopped (Thermomix: 5 sec/speed 6).
- Scrape down sides with spatula, then process about 1 minute on low speed, slowly adding oil (Thermomix: 1 min/speed 3). Scrape down sides with spatula then process 30 sec, slowly increasing speed to high speed, or until desired smoothness is achieved (Thermomix: 30 sec/speed 10/slowly increasing speed from 1 to 10). Serve as desired.
TIPS
- For vegan/dairy-free option, omit the parmesan and replace with nutritional yeast flakes.