Perky Pestos
Who doesn’t love a good pesto?
Originating from Genoa, Italy in the early 1600’s pesto is a pounded sauce of basil, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil. The sauce is used on pastas, grains, breads, and as topping for soups. While I love the classical sauce, like so many recipes you can vary pesto to your liking, and out of pragmatism. I found myself overrun with claytonia (miner’s lettuce) and arugula this spring. They’ve made a delicious pesto with walnuts, which I also have in abundance.
Servings: 4 servings Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
3 cups firmly packed basil (or a mix of basil and garden herbs such as arugula, miner’s lettuce, young kale leaves —whatever edible green is running amok)
2/3 cup toasted nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, etc)
2/3 cup grated Parmesan, Asiago, or Romano
1/2 cup olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to tastes
Other delight additions - sundried tomatoes, olives, lemon, etc.
Instructions
In a food processor, blender, or mortar and pestle, combine basil and other greens, nuts, cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and process until blended and nearly smooth. If using a mortar and pestle, pound all ingredients until nearly smooth or to desired texture. Taste to adjust seasonings.
Ladle into clean jars. Store in the fridge for 2 days to a week. Freeze in ice cube trays for up to 3 months.
Recipe Highlights
Learn more about food energetics!
Pestos recipes will vary in their nutritional value based on the herbs and nuts chosen. As a broad view, leafy greens herbs such as basil and arugula are pungent, move stagnation and benefit the Liver, Gallbladder and help stimulate digestion while breaking up stasis. Olive oil nourishes Yin and provides essential fats. Garlic is a hot pungent, aids digestion, protects against exterior invasion (colds and flus) and warms the body. Nuts provide fat and protein - read more here. In general, pestos are vitamin rich and offer iron, calcium, vitamin D and vitamin A.
Enjoy!
