Almond Butter and Avocado Pesto

It’s common for people to avoid pesto when following a healthy diet, however making this gloriously green sauce from scratch can actually bring a whole host of health benefits! So, give jarred shop-bought pesto a miss and make your own! Our Almond Butter and Avocado Pesto not only tastes incredible, but is also super nutritious as it’s bursting with heart-healthy fats and protein! You can make this pesto vegan by simply substituting the Parmesan for nutritional yeast – so nobody needs to miss out!Absolutely perfect for stirring through pasta, this pesto is also surprisingly versatile and also creates a delicious dressing for salads and roasted vegetables, is a tasty addition to any boring sandwich or stir into a soup or stew to add a hit of flavour. Try spreading it over chicken or salmon fillets before grilling for a crowd-pleasing healthy dinner. This pesto also works like a dream drizzled over scrambled eggs or tofu scramble… yum! We added avocado to our pesto for an extra boost of healthy fats and antioxidants and it adds a lovely creaminess to the pesto, however if you aren’t a fan, the recipe still works well without this addition! Cashew butter also works beautifully in this recipe as an alternative to almond butter, so see which you prefer – it’s a tough call! This pesto really is the nuts, give it a go for yourself!

Yield: 120g (4 x 30g servings)
Nutrition per 30g serving: kcal: 165, Protein: 5g, Carbs: 4g, Fat: 15g
Nutrition per 30g serving (vegan): kcal: 161 , Protein: 5.5g, Carbs: 5g, Fat: 14gHere’s what you’ll need:
A food processor (if you don’t have a food processor, you could use a blender or hand held blender to mix the ingredients – you could even use a pestle and mortar… and some elbow grease!).

Ingredients:

• 40g loosely packed basil
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan (substitute the same quantity for nutritional yeast if making the vegan version)
• 2 tbsp TPW Almond Butter or TPW Cashew Butter
• ½ avocado
• 3+ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
• 1 pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper (plus more to taste).

Method

1. Add basil, garlic, almond (or cashew) butter, parmesan (or nutritional yeast if making vegan version) avocado, salt, and pepper to a food processor and process.
2. Drizzle in olive oil until the mixture becomes a paste. Taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary.
3. Add a tbsp of lemon (optional) to lift the flavours and to help keep the avocado in the pesto green. If you are unsure of how much to add, taste before adding the lemon and gradually add to taste.
4. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Tips:

• This recipe can be easily doubled, tripled, etc.
• Made too much? You can freeze this pesto in ice cube trays for super speedy and delicious cubes of pesto that you can throw into soups, stews or simply thaw and use as normal!

What You’ll Need

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