Super Green Sauce (Nut-Free Pesto)
51 days ago
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I think it is important to have a flavorful and versatile sauce in your recipe arsenal. This one for Super Green Sauce (Nut-Free Pesto) is full-flavored and can be used in many ways.
My family loves pesto. We use it on bread, with pasta, with eggs and more. But, as I’ve noted before, my son has a nut allergy so instead of using pine nuts I used roasted garlic to get that nutty flavor.
Chopping the Greens
Basil and baby spinach give this sauce its vibrant green color. When rough chopping them, make sure they are dry before cutting so the cut pieces don’t stick to the knife. I like using the 7-5/8″ Petite Chef knife. Its sharp blade has a rounded belly that allows you to rock the knife over basil and spinach.
You can also use kale in place of the baby spinach or a little of both.
Note that you don’t have to be too particular about uniformity when chopping, as the ingredients will be added to a blender or food processor for combining with other ingredients.
The Other Ingredients
The Super Green Sauce gets a touch of tangy, refreshing flavor from lemon zest and lemon juice. All you need is one lemon. Zest it first and then cut in half with a Santoku-Style Trimmer to juice one half.
For the garlic, as mentioned, I like to roast it to add a touch of nuttiness. If you’re looking for tips on how to do it, take a look at Cutco’s simple tutorial.
All that’s left to add is olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese.
Blend everything up in a blender or food processor and the sauce is ready to use as you would use pesto. It’s delicious served over fish or chicken.
One of my favorite ways to serve it is with pasta. When serving with pasta, however, reserve a quarter cup of the starchy pasta liquid to replace one quarter cup of the oil in the recipe. Also, be careful if you salt your pasta water to not over salt the pesto. Salt it after you’ve blended it to see if it’s even needed.
This Super Green Sauce (Nut-Free Pesto) could be considered a superfood because of the nutrient-rich baby spinach or kale.
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, rough chopped
- 1 cup fresh baby kale/spinach leaves without stems (I prefer the baby leaves)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- Juice from half a lemon
- 4 roasted garlic cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Combine all the ingredients in your blender or food processor.
- Blend until smooth.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning.
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