Every summer we plant a big pot of Italian basil and by summer’s end we make batches of pesto for future use. Pesto is great because you can easily use it with pasta, on pizza, as a sandwich spread and add it to your salad dressing for that extra zing. We wanted to make a more economical pesto so instead of using pine nuts, we decided to use pumpkin seeds instead and the result? Pesto that is just as good as the traditional version!
Did you know?
- Pumpkin seeds provide 5.3g of protein per ounce and they are a good source of fibre
- Pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of minerals like magnesium, copper and zinc
- They are a good source of unsaturated fats, iron, calcium, B2 and folate
- They are so versatile – you can roast them and eat them as a snack, sprinkle some on your salads and yogurt parfait and make it into pesto!
To make our pumpkin pesto, we used Cookie + Kate’s recipe. Why do we love and recommend this recipe? First off she gives you an option to use whatever you have on hand (you can use pumpkin seeds, almonds, pecans, walnuts). Secondly, she gives tips on how to make it nut free and dairy/vegan friendly. And she breaks down the ingredients she uses and explains why she uses them (i.e. “Salt amps up all the other flavors and reduces the bitterness of the basil.”
This time around we used this pesto to make a shrimp and pesto pasta. Here’s our suggestions on how to use this pesto : spaghetti and bacon pesto pasta, mushroom and chicken pesto pizza and roasted veggies with mozzarella and pesto sandwich. If you like this recommendation and decide to make this pesto, share with us how you use it.
