Veagn Pesto With Lemon Basil

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5 from 1 vote

Uniquely citrusy pesto made with lemon basil and pistachios for a greener twist on the classic!

Prep Time30

Cook Time10

Total Time40

Course: Main Dishes

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: /4 Cup

Calories: 565.79kcal

Author: Max

Ingredients

2 Cups Lemon basil leaves loosely packed
3-4 Tablespoons olive oil or other tolerated oil
¼ cup toasted pistachios
1 clove garlic
dash of salt

Instructions

Toast raw pistachios for 2-3 minutes on low heat, until starting to smell a bit toasty and browned, then take them off the heat.
Remove lemon basil leaves from stems, avoiding getting any flowers or seeds into the mixture.
Measure 2 cups of leaves, lightly packed, and then wash them all carefully. Then add all of them to the bowl of your food processor with 1 Tablespoon of oil and blend for 10 seconds, until all the basil leaves have been lightly chopped and coated in oil.
Scrape down the sides, and then add the garlic, pistachios, salt, and 1 Tablespoon of oil to the lemon basil. Put on the lid and pulse the ingredients for 10-20 seconds. Really high-powered food processors may only need 1 more Tablespoon of oil for the rest of the pesto.
Next, slowly add in all the rest of your oil as needed, scraping down the sides at least twice and blend until very smooth (30 seconds to 2 minutes). Once smooth, your pesto is all ready to use!

Notes

LEMON BASIL. I've only tried this recipe with lemon basil, but you can try using 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice + any varietal of 'normal' basil, like Italian, Opal, Purple, or Large-Leaf Basil in its place. All basils will survive well in a glass of water in sunlight for up to one week.

PISTACHIOS. While you can use pistachio butter in place of pistachios, I highly recommend using the fresh pistachios and toasting them yourself, but only if it's a brand you've tolerated before & the only ingredient is pistachios.

Nutrition