Fresh, Easy Pesto Recipe with a Bright, Crisp Flavor: Nut-Free and Gluten-Free
It’s the time of year when basil plants are flourishing and we have the perfect way to savor some of that flavor from your herb garden! Celiac Kitchen’s pesto recipe starts off with some of the traditional ingredients you might expect in a pesto recipe, but then we veer off course just a bit by adding fresh spinach, bright lemon juice and zest, nutritional yeast for extra cheesiness and flavor, and to create a nut-free version, we substituted gluten-free hemp hearts. Once the small amount of prep work is done, give those fresh blend of flavors a whirl in your food processor and your pesto will be ready for dipping, to use as a sauce on your favorite gluten-free pasta or to drizzle over tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.
We demonstrate how to make this recipe on Celiac Kitchen’s YouTube channel. See you there!
Pesto
Ingredients:
50 grams fresh basil (about 2 cups)
25 gram fresh baby spinach (about 1 cup)
40 – 50 grams parmesan cut into small cubes
4 – 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to desired thickness
½ teaspoon seasoned salt (adjust to suit your preference)
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (adjust to suit your preference)
1 heaping tablespoon nutritional yeast (for extra cheesiness and flavor)
2 heaping tablespoons gluten-free hemp hearts (replaces nuts found in many recipes)
2 – 4 garlic cloves, to preference
Optional: 1 lemon zest (1 teaspoon) and juice (1 tablespoon). For a less robust lemon flavor, omit the zest.
Directions:
Put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse on the chop setting. With a small food processor that requires chopping a small batch then adding more ingredients to chop, add some of oil each time you add other ingredients. Total time pureeing pesto takes 2 – 3 minutes
When all the ingredients are blended, check for desired consistency and add oil as needed for how you want to use it
Makes about 1½ cups pesto
Pesto can be stored:
in the refrigerator - add a little olive oil to the top to create a seal that helps keep it fresh or
frozen - place in ice cube tray to freeze in small portions then store cubes in a zip lock bag