theveganpea

This little twist on my classic pesto is brighter and lighter for summer! It is great as a sandwich spread, pasta sauce or even on it’s own…I am a pesto addict who can unashamedly eat it on its own with a big spoon! The olives add a great acidity and pecan nuts are a lot less dense than pine nuts. I always use bottled olives because they are less acidic and always buy them with the stones still in because they have way more flavour! Writing this recipe is definitely going to give me pesto cravings…I sense a midnight trip to the fridge is about to happen!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (Makes 3 cups):

• 280g Basil
• 200g flaked Almonds
• 150g Pecan Nuts
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 1 Red Chilli
• 1 tsp ground Black pepper
• 165g Green Olives (with stones)
• 165g Black Olives (with stones)
• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt to taste

1. Using a wide knife (or your hand) place pressure on each olive until the olive splits and you can remove each stone (count how many stones you remove to prevent you from accidentally including a stone in the pesto…mistakes happen)
2. Place the pitted olives into a blender and blend until the olives and finely chopped and are almost puree-like
3. In a pan on medium heat, toast the pecans and almond flakes until the almonds are lightly golden
4. Place the nuts, chilli, garlic, pepper and olive oil into the blender and blend wight he olives until the garlic has pureed
5. Place the basil into the blender and pulse until the basil is roughly chopped into small pieces
6. Add salt to taste and blend to mix
7. Add to pasta or any dish of your choice (if heating up then only use low heat to prevent the oil from separating)
8. Enjoy my Little Peas!