Dairy Free Pesto

In our garden back in Texas I always had an abundant amount of fresh basil on hand. It was the only way I could fuel my pesto obsession. One day when picking a load of basil I asked my instagram followers if they would like a dairy free pesto recipe (a lot of my followers have dietary restrictions, especially those breast feeding mamas). It was a unanimous decision that this recipe needed to be ironed out.

This recipe was harder to produce than I originally thought just because I never measure anything and it always turns out a bit different, but always pretty great. However this is beyond ‘pretty great’ and I’m glad I was patient enough to get it here.

Pesto is one of those staples we always have in the fridge, whether it’s smothered on some gluten free pasta with some veggies and protein or shined out for salad dressing *just add more olive oil, or even a delicious dip for some fresh veggies (are you following a theme here yet?). Try it out and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups organic basil, packed tight

• 1/4 cup pine nuts

• 2 tablespoons walnuts

• 3 large cloves of garlic

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 1 teaspoon of good quality salt

• 1/4-1/2 cup organic extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

Step 1: Add all your ingredients, besides the olive oil, to a high power blender *I use a Vitamix.

Step 2: Start blender on low and slowly increase speed as you add your olive oil in slowly, starting with 1/4 cup. If ingredients do not start to blend easily then add a little bit more olive oil until they do, not exceeding 1/2 cup.

Step 3: Give it a taste and add more salt if needed

Step 4: Remove from blender and add to your favorite pasta dish!