Sunflower Seed Pesto Pasta: A recipe by Sam Parish
PESTO! The ultimate recipe for using up the bounty of basil available! But sometimes it can be hard to justify the cost of nuts so I thought I’d share my recipe for toasted sunflower seed pesto, so you have zero reasons to not make basil go the distance. This was a big winner in our house with both 7 month and 3-year-old and a fab way of making green food YUMMY for kids!
Toasted sunflower seed pesto pasta
Makes 2 cups pesto
Serves 4
Prep 10 cooking 10
Ingredients:
½ cup sunflower seeds
2 tbsp sunflower oil
60g chunk Parmesan cheese, chopped, plus extra to serve
4-5 garlic cloves (depending on how much you like garlic)
75g Streamside organic basil leaves, including some of the stem (approx. 3 handfuls)
30g Streamside organic spinach leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
½ cup (125ml) olive oil
1 tsp salt
Cracked pepper
300g dried pasta of choice, (I used orzo)
Sundried tomatoes to serve.
The How-To:
1. Heat oil in a fry pan over high heat. Add seeds and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until browned all over and toasted evenly. Transfer to a high-speed blender or small food processor and cool for 5 minutes.
2. Add parmesan and blitz until finely chopped
3. Add basil, spinach, juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and blitz until bright green and finely chopped and almost smooth.
4. Cook pasta as per packet instructions and drain saving 1 cup of the pasta water.
5. Combine pasta, pasta water and half the pesto in a saucepan and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add more pesto if you think it needs it.
Spoon onto plate and finish with sundried tomatoes and more shaved parmesan to serve.
6. To store remaining pesto, place in a jar and top with extra oil to prevent from
oxidising. Keep refrigerated for 1 week. Alternatively freeze in ice cube trays.