Thinking outside the pesto box
Hear that eating arugula is good for you but don’t know how to use it? This delightful and flavourful pesto steps away from the traditional basil pesto and, instead, uses fresh arugula along with roasted almonds. Kick it up a notch with a fresh jalapeño and slather this on your favourite noodles or use it as a dip for veggies or crackers. High in healthy fats, omegas, anti-oxidants and fiber, this pesto is a winner all around! I love it on gluten free pasta with artichoke hearts and sun dried tomatoes with a little sprinkle of parmesan! Yum!
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Refined sugar free
- Vegan/vegetarian
- Cleanse program friendly
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup whole almonds, roasted
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2-4 cloves garlic, depending on how much you like garlic, I go heavy
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed, or leave a few for more spice (optional)
- 1 heaping tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Cracked pepper to taste
- 2 cups packed arugula
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Directions:
- Place 1/2 cup whole almonds on a baking sheet or toaster oven tray and roast at 350F for 10 minutes. Toss and return to oven another 5 minutes. Check, stir and bake another 2-3 minutes or so if necessary. Watch not to burn. They will smell fragrant. Let cool.
- Prepare all other ingredients while almonds are roasting.
- Place roasted almonds into a food processor or blender and pulse until a uniform course meal forms then place almond meal in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add lemon, garlic, jalapeño, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast to the blender and pulse until everything is finely chopped.
- Add arugula and olive oil and blend until mostly pureed.
- Add puree to almond meal and mix with a spatula.
- Serve on pasta or as a dip.
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