Dairy Free Pistachio Pesto - Homemade is best!

During my first ever retreat I made a Pesto to go with one of the recipes and I didn't put it in my cookery book for the event, so here you are ladies!

Pesto ready for using!

Where to use Pesto?

It’s perfect around meat, like a marinade. I used this for a breakfast dish where I added it to butter beans. It goes well with cooked vegetables too. This is easy to make and makes me feel good that I know what the ingredients are, rather than buying shop bought.

This is a dairy-free (no cheese) recipe.

I like to play with my ingredients and when I made this recently, I couldn’t find Basil, so I used coriander instead. Any herb would do. Same with the nuts, you can swap pistachio’s for walnuts, pine nuts, any nut or seed you have in the cupboard.

I might add lemon or lime zest to the recipe too. I challenge you to add your own flair!

Ingredients

80g fresh basil leaves washed and dried

100g unsalted roasted pistachios 

2 tbsp lime juice freshly squeezed (could use lemon juice too)

2 garlic cloves roughly chopped

1 tsp sea salt to taste

½ tsp black pepper freshly cracked, to taste

80 ml extra virgin olive oil plus extra for storage

Method

Prepare: Remove any long stems from the basil leaves and wash and dry them well.

Blend: To a food processor or high-speed blender, add the basil leaves, pistachios, lime juice, garlic, sea salt, and black pepper. Blitz until the ingredients have broken down into a chunky paste. Scrape down the sides with a spatula.

Add oil: Slowly drizzle the olive oil while blending until emulsified. The pesto should be uniform but not too smooth retaining some texture.

Store: Transfer the pesto to a clean sealed jar or airtight container. Before sealing, pour a layer of olive oil on the surface of the pesto to prevent it from being exposed to air, reduces the risk of the top going brown. Seal and refrigerate for up to 1 week.