Easy Blender Pesto Made with Pumpkin Seeds (Kid-friendy, GF)
FYI: Some of these links are Amazon affiliate links. What this means is that by buying through these links, Amazon gives me a small commission, paid by third parties, not by you. I only recommend products that I genuinely love. Thank you for supporting my page!
This Easy Peasy Blender Pesto taste authentically Italian so you can totally pretend you’re not on quarantine travel lockdown but on some exotic italian getaway. Even though I like to switch up the nuts and seeds I use when I make pesto, this batch still turned out DELICIOUS so I wanted to take the time to show you exactly how I made it.
It’s made with my favorite nutrient dense seeds - Pumpkin Seeds - instead of the traditional pinenuts and it still tastes perfecto. Pumpkin seeds are loaded with beneficial omega 3’s, fiber, protein, magnesium, selenium and zinc. This is why I like to switch them out for pinenuts occasionally.
I like to make a really large batch of pesto and save 2-3 batches in freezer for a quick, healthy freezer meal at a later date.
You know I’ll be stashing allllll the pesto in my freezer for after this baby comes!
Have I mentioned that you make this easy pumpkin seed pesto right in the blender? If you’ve got all the right ingredients, it truthfully only takes about 10-15 minutes to blend up in the food processor or in your high speed blender. While you’re making your pesto, you boil your favorite noodles and VIOLA! Dinner served! So easy right!? I just love how quick and simple pesto is.
I will say this first. Invest in a high quality olive oil. Thats so important when cooking with oils or when making pesto. Because the types and quantity of fats and oils you ingest regularly are so, so important to your overall health. Fats are essential to the body for so many reasons and most americans aren’t consuming enough or not the right types of fats.
Highly processed and oxidized oils can cause a cascade of negative health outcomes but regularly consuming and cooking with REAL, raw, high-quality olive oil is so good for the hair, skin, nails, brain, heart and is known for preventing a host of chronic health issues.
Not to mention, did you know most olive oils on the US marketplace are essential FAKE!? Not even real oil made from olives. That blows my mind.
So when shopping for olive oil, be careful. Try to buy organic if you can, look for Extra Virgin, look for a DARK glass container (never a light container and never plastic), check the exporation date and also the ingredients. There should only be one ingredient: olive oil. And typically the darker the glass, the more maintained the oil is, quality wise.
Ok, I got side tracked talking oil quality for a bit but thats okay right?!
Here’s how easy it is to make.
Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes
Makes 2-3 batches (one for eating and some extra for stashing in the freezer)
Ingredients:
4 cups fresh basil leaves (from about 3 large bunches)
1 cup of spinach or 4-5 leaves of kale
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (this one is good)
1/2 cup organic sprouted pumpkin seeds (alternatively you can use pinenuts, almonds or cashews)
3-4 garlic cloves
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions:
Boil your water and throw in your favorite pasta while you’re making your fresh pesto. This is my favorite gluten-free, corn-free brand.
In a high speed blender or food processor, process your garlic cloves, a pinch of sea salt and a dash of olive oil to get things started.
Then, add in the basil, olive oil, lemon juice, greens of choice and the pumpkin seeds and pulse until combined, pushing the ingredients down when needed.
Add in the remaining salt and cheese. The cheese will flavor the pesto mostly, you don’t need to add much salt.
When your pasta is cooked to your liking, pour as little or as much pesto over your pasta and serve with freshly grated parmasean cheese.
Enjoy!
