Leafy greens are always the trickiest thing to catch before they turn in my opinion, one day they’re fresh, the next day they’re green fridge slugs. One of my favourite ways to catch them before they hit their ‘worst before’ is in a pesto. I love this recipe because it can work with literally any green leaf you’ve got and it’s the perfect zero waste solution to preserving life a little longer. Things that work particularly well: spinach, lettuces, rocket, parsley, basil, kale.
You can also be pretty playful with the nuts you use, classically, pine nuts are used but I find they’re pretty expensive and some alternatives have more nutritional value and a deeper taste. My favourites to use are walnuts, pecans, pistachios and almonds.
I like to put the pesto on pasta for an easy lunchtime fix or as a delicious base to homemade pizza or as an unctuous salad dressing.
Ingredients
T = tablespoon t = teaspoon
About 3-4 handfuls leafy greens and herbs
Juice of 1 lemon
1-2 clove garlic
6 T olive oil
2 T nutritional yeast
1 handful nuts (chefs choice - I used walnut)
Pinch of sea salt
Roughly chop all your greens, in this one I’ve used kale, rocket and parsley and all of your nuts. It doesn’t need to be super fine as the food processor will take care of that.
Chuck all of the ingredients into the food processor and pulse into a fine paste. You might need to add a touch more olive oil if it’s sticking.
That’s it! Store it in a jar in the fridge and enjoy with pretty much anything…