I really failed at growing basil this summer. Hard fail. I couldn’t compete with my moms exploding basil plants. My mint on the other hand went crazy, which was great, because mint is delicious in everything, but I found out this week that it’s especially delicious in pesto! It’s a nice shake up from traditional basil-pine nut pesto. It’s light, lemony and the pistachios make it a bit creamy!

I recently got a beautiful food processor (thank you mom and dad!!) so I’ve made pesto 3 times this week now, I’ve just been eating pesto on everything. This morning I knicked my finger and I swear it bled pesto.

I even made a vegan batch of it to bring to a vegan family member, but I used vegan parmesan instead of the real stuff, and it was still delicious. Gord will be so excited! I know people think vegan cheese is weird, but this stuff is almost indistinguishable from regular parm:
https://vegansupply.ca/collections/cheeses/products/earth-island-shreddded-parmesan-cheese-113g  I happen to work not far from here, so I was able to pick some up!

Also, another bonus – pesto freezes really well! My mom keeps her homemade pesto in the freezer, and now I have batches of this in mine. I froze mine in ice cube trays and then in baggies so I have the perfect little servings of this pesto. Mom, are you reading this? If you are, I’m making you some of this too, don’t worry!

Everyone should have a good pesto recipe, because pesto can be put on anything, and I mean ANYTHING.  This week alone I’ve had it with a bunch of stuff:

Pasta with roasted veggies (classic!)
I marinated and baked tofu in it (vegans and vegetarians rejoice!)
I thinned it out and used it as salad dressing
I ate it with a spoon, as did my roommate
and last night I just spread the leftovers on bread while I whipped up another batch…
I’m also planning to put it on crispy potatoes this weekend, so really it’s a miracle sauce

So pretty versatile, right? Pesto is the besto!

I put a lot of lemon in mine, because I LOVE lemon, but pesto is really all to taste, so put in more or less mint or parsley, more or less lemon, hell put in a whole head of garlic if you like! And if you’re cutting down on oil you can use water or broth – there’s really no wrong way to do this as long as you get a consistency and taste that works for you! Say goodbye to preservatives and chemicals in regular pesto, and say wazzzuppp to fresh, bright delicousness!

Pistachio Mint Pesto

• 1 cup ground pistachios
• 1 1/2 cups mint
• 1 1/2 cups parsley
• Zest & Juice from 1 lemon
• 1/2 – 1 cup parmesan
• 1 – 2 cloves garlic (or more, depending on your breath preference)
• Pepper to taste ( I find you don’t need salt if the nuts are salted, and parm is salty!)
• Olive oil (or avocado oil, or broth/water) to blend to consistency

Grind pistachios in food processor.

Add mint, parsley, lemon, garlic, and cheese (again, you can play with the ratios to your own taste and preference, I like the way the parsley balances out the mint so I keep it equal)and blend together. Add pepper.

While blending, drizzle in oil (or oil alternative) through the spout of your food processor until everything is finely blended and you have your desired consistency. I like it heavier and thicker for pasta and spreading, and thinner for dressings or to drizzle!

Saluti!