The best pesto...ever.

I guess I may be a little bias, since I made this pesto, but it's so good! 


Because this winter has been so warm, my parsley never died. No, in fact it grew like a wild child and is now taking up 1/3 of my entire garden. 


You see tomorrow I will begin sowing my seeds (indoors) and clean my garden. Lots of weeds. In order to get ready for the spring I need to tame this parsley beast and so I chopped off a huge portion of it. And what's the best thing to make with massive amounts of parsley? Pesto of course.


This pesto is a little different than traditional pesto for a couple reasons. First, I added a red bell pepper. Second, I cooked the onion and pepper. Raw onion can be not so gentle on my stomach. Lastly, I used cashews in place of pine nuts.

Red Pepper Pesto


Ingredients:

½ medium onion, chopped

½ red bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

hand full of cashews (about 1/3 cup), toasted*

2 tbsp lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

4 large bunches of parsley

¾ cup olive oil

salt and pepper

Steps:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and red bell pepper and cook until slightly caramelized, about 10-15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

2. Add the onion and pepper mixture, the cashews, lemon juice and zest, the parsley, and some salt and pepper in a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine everything. 

3. Slowly add the olive oil and mix until fully combined.

This recipe makes about 2 cups of pesto. Use immediately or keep leftovers in your fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for months.


*To toast the cashews, preheat your oven to 350. Place the nuts on a sheet pan and bake for 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on them. They can go from toasted to burned in a flash.

I'll share some ideas for leftover pesto, besides pesto pasta salad, this week! My favorite it to spread it on sandwiches!


Happy first day of spring!
xo kim