Nut Free Pesto

Who else loves pesto as much as I do?! Our dairy free pesto recipe has been super popular so we've taken it to another level by making it suitable for those on a nut free diet. 

We add baby spinach to this pesto just to bump up its nutritional status to a whole new level. 

Add this nut free, dairy free basil pesto to eggs, meats, chicken, fish, salads, veggies, pretty much anything savoury! Yum! 

Pesto is also a great way to include good amounts of healthy olive oil into your diet. Read my blog post here about why you should get more olive oil in to your diet. 

Nutrition 101:

• Not only is this basil pesto dairy free but this recipe uses high quality healthy ingredients such as olive oil and fresh basil adding nutritional value to any savoury dish.
• Basil possess anti-bacterial properties and is a great digestive aid and also has anti-inflammatory effects helping inflammatory conditions such as arthritis or inflammatory bowel disorders.
• Rich in anti-oxidants, basil also possesses properties that are anti-ageing and promote vitality.
• Olive oil is a great source of healthy fat especially good for healthy skin, hair and hormone health.

Recipe:

Nut Free Fresh Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

• 3 cups (packed) Fresh Basil Leaves 
• 1/2 cup (packed) Baby Spinach Leaves
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I use Cobram Estate)
• 1 tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 Fresh Garlic Cloves, minced
• Pink Salt to liking

Method:

1. In a small blender (I use my Vitamix) or stab mixer with attachment, blend basil with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt.  Add a little more oil or a splash of water if needed. Adjust seasoning and add additional lemon juice to liking.
2. Use pesto immediately or store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Make It Personal:

• Add 1 fresh, de-seeded chilli or 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes to ingredients before blending.

Recipe Tips:

• To keep your basil fresh, wrap in kitchen paper towel and store in an airtight bag in the crisper section of your refrigerator or alternatively stand bunch of basil in a glass of water.
• After each use top pesto with extra olive oil to keep fresh. You can also freeze pesto in ice cube trays and pop out individual serves and defrost as needed or store frozen pesto cubes in an airtight freezer bag in freezer.

Sensitive to FODMAPs?

• Omit fresh garlic and use garlic infused olive oil for added garlic flavour.