Pesto is such a yummy addition to so many meals, but with pine nuts and parmesan being a standard in most recipes, it’s normally not an option for us.

But this year my both my basil and my spinach are growing great guns so I was inspired to make a pesto that would use our fresh produce and be safe.

• 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 packed cup fresh spinach leaves
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp pink salt flakes
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 cup pepitas (50g)
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (40g)
• 1/4 cup hemp seeds (40g)
• 50g extra virgin olive oil

Dry fry the seeds in a hot frying pan. Keep a close eye on them, stirring regularly, as it only takes a couple of minutes for them to go golden brown.

Add all ingredients, except the olive oil to your blender/processor/thermal cooker and process until quite fine (speed 8, 6 secs, scrape down and repeat).

Process again as you slowly drizzle the oil through the top opening of the machine (speed 4). Process until oil is well combined.

Use immediately or freeze in ice cubes for future use. Makes about 1 cup.

Some ideas for use:

• Rub onto chicken pieces or salmon before baking
• Add in a handful of sun-dried tomatoes at the processing stage and stir through pasta (Especially awesome if you top with some crispy bacon and home made garlic croutons!)
• Fold through some cream cheese (soy based or dairy) or a ripe, mashed avocado as a great dip.
• If you enjoy the Parmesan flavour that a lot of pesto has, add in a tbsp of Nutritional Yeast

Enjoy 🙂