parsley pesto

by sj

Do you like parsley? The smells and feelings of late spring and early summer? [ of course you do!] Then this is a pesto you must make immediately, drop everything and whiz some up pronto. It is super easy, super quick, and it will make your friends and your mouth go ahhhhhh…. i don’t think it’s possible to taste this and not be transported to a lovely lazy sunny day.

parsley pesto with wooden spatula

parsley pesto

Do you like parsley? The smells and feelings of late spring and early summer? [ of course you do!] Then this is a… base sauces + marinades + pastes parsley pesto European make it paper
yield: about 2 cups Prep Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat
rating 5.0/5
( 3 voted )

ingredients:

140g | 2 ⅓ cups fresh italian parsley, chopped (including stems)

25g | ⅓ cup fresh sweet basil, chopped (leaves)

5g | 1 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped (leaves)

3g | ½ tsp lemon zest

30g/30ml | 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2g | ¾ tsp black pepper, freshly ground

165g/180ml | ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

3g | ½ tsp fine sea salt

40g | ⅓ cup raw english walnuts, chopped

24g | 3 Tbsp toasted brazil nuts, chopped*

3g | 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

9g | 1 ½ tsp shiro (white) miso**

8g | 1 Tbsp fresh garlic, chopped

directions:

Blend zest, juice, pepper, salt, nutritional yeast, miso, and garlic in ⅔ of the olive oil until smooth

Add in ⅔ of the parsley and blend until finely chopped

Add remaining ingredients and blend until you reach the consistency you prefer (over blending will result in something closer to an emulsion than a pesto and may bring out undesirable strong grassy notes from the herbs)

Store a few days in the fridge or freeze up to 3 months, any longer and the pesto will lose colour and flavour 

notes:

*to make raw, simply sub unroasted brazil nuts or macadamia. **to make soy free sub with a splash of coconut aminos. You can easily swap out the nuts in this recipe for others if you want (or need to) pistachios, pine nuts, and almonds would all be quite delicious here. just sub raw nuts for the walnuts and toasted for the brazil (the toasted nuts add a little oomph to the texture) If you're dairy inclined, you could easily change out the miso, nooch, and brazil nuts for a strong, salty cheese....but i feel that makes it too heavy, you're welcome to try it out for yourself

The basil and mint play third fiddle here to the bright green flavor of the parsley and the sunny flavor of lemon, they help to sweeten and balance the mix and keep it from tasting like lawn clippings with spilled lemonade. The nutritional yeast, toasted brazil nuts, and miso (not pictured here) bring a light umami-ness that would normally be provided by cheese, without weighing the pesto down or making it overly salty.

This recipe is super quick, the herbs only need to be roughly chopped and parsley stems are totally fine here (i just grab the bunch/es and lob off the bottom half or so of the stems) but! don’t use the stems of the basil or mint, they tend to be tougher and mint stems can have an unpleasant bitterness (plus, the stems aren’t very flavorful)

Use to flavour up some pasta, in salad dressing, toss with roasted vegges (like here), mix with oil for a bread dip….the possibilities are endless.

...and now for something similar:

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