Recipe: Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Pesto is one of those great “template recipes” where you can easily substitute ingredients and come up with something fresh and new every time! Traditional pesto is made of basil, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. Here, we sub in nutritional yeast for the cheese and pumpkin seeds for the pine nuts. Use this as a sauce for any dish that needs an aromatic kick. It’s great on veggies, stirred into soups, coating good (whole grain, gluten-free?) pasta, and much more!

• 4 cups fresh basil leaves (subs: parsley, cilantro, any aromatic green)
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds, shells removed (subs: pine nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts)
• ¾ cup good olive oil
• ½ cup nutritional yeast (this is the “cheese” in this recipe)
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced (use more or less garlic, according to your taste)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process to desired consistency.

Store it in a mason jar with more olive oil, enough to cover the top, keep refrigerated.

Bon Appétit!