In a blender or stab mixer with attachment, blend basil with half the amount of olive oil until finely chopped.
Add lemon juice, pumpkin seeds, garlic, salt and remainder of oil. Blend until smooth. Add a little more oil or a splash of water if needed. Adjust seasoning to liking.
Use pesto immediately or store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Add a tablespoon of pesto to cooked vegetables and toss through.
Make It Personal:
Add 1 fresh, de-seeded chilli or 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes to ingredients before blending.
Recipe Tips:
Blending basil with a little olive oil before adding the remaining ingredients help to create a smooth and well-blended pesto.
Purchasing fresh herbs from farmer’s markets is usually much more affordable than store bought. You often can get much larger bunches that are extremely fresh and vibrant.
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.