Pumpkin Seed Pesto

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This has been one incredibility busy summer for us.  We homeschool all year long. Add in the swim lesson 3 days a week on top of the music lessons, gymnastics, dance and karate (coming soon) and our summer is flying by.  We’ve also been doing a lot of traveling around the area while we were on a hunt for a new RV (we just purchased one and I’m so excited for our upcoming RV trips!).  For some reason our hunt for RV’s tended to take us north of Oceanside and we would frequently find ourselves having dinner at one of our favorite restaurants – Native Foods Cafe.  After eating countless Super Italian Meatball Subs I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and recreate this amazing sandwich at home.  The first step was to come up with a tasty version of their pumpkin seed pesto.  I used roasted pumpkin seeds in this recipe and I gotta say – this was one of the best tasting pesto sauces I’ve ever had.  I’ve since used it on pasta, roasted vegetables and as a base for a pesto veggie pizza.  Good stuff I tell ya, good stuff!

~Sarah

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, raw or roasted (roasted gives the sauce a richer flavor)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tbsp sea salt (if you are using a salted pumpkin seed then omit the sea salt)
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and process for 10-15 seconds.
2. That’s it!  Don’t you just love recipes like this!?

Nutritional Info:

Makes approximately 1 cup.

Serving size 1 tbsp.

Nutrients per serving:  Calories: 98, Cal. from Fat: 92.5, Total Fat: 10.5g, Sat. Fat: 1.5g, Carbs: 1g, Fiber: 0g, Sugars: 0g, Protein: 0g, Sodium: 0mg, Chol: 0mg

Notes:

Leftover pesto can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.