Pesto is a fridge staple and as such can get a little overlooked. However you can give limping greenery a new lease of life by whizzing it into a vibrant pesto! This will keep for a week in the fridge or you can freeze into ice cube trays for longer term convenience. (I used chard and sorrel with nutritional yeast and sunflower seeds). This recipe is courtesy of Dr Tim Spector (and the Zoe team) who you may have seen on various media platforms trying to up our plant eating quota-which we of course would endorse!
Ingredients
2 packed cups (approx 60g) of mixed fresh tender herbs or greens e.g basil, parsley, rocket, kale, spinach, sorrel
1/4 cup vegetarian parmesan OR 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup nuts or seeds e.g. pine nuts, walnuts, cashews or sunflower seeds
2-3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
3-6 tbsp water
Method:
1) Combine herbs, nuts or seeds, garlic, lemon juice, hard cheese/nutritional yeast and salt in a food processor (or nutri bullet or similar) and process until a loose paste forms.
2) Drizzle in oil with the machine running if possible, or add in 2-3 parts and process until smmoth
3) If necessary, add 1 tbsp water at a time to reach your desired consistency-a thick but pourable sauce
4) Taste and adjust flavour as needed-add more cheese/nutritional yeast for cheesy flavour, salt, nuts for depth, garlic for zing or lemon juice for acidity 5) Store in an air tight container in the fridge or transfer to an ice cube tray and freeze for up to 4 months.