This easy spinach pesto recipe is allergy friendly and a healthy alternative to many other pesto sauce recipes. It mixes up in a blender quickly and easily and this dairy-free pesto is suitable for paleo, vegan, vegetarian diets.
In a small skillet, toast the pumpkin seeds over medium heat until they take on a little color and some of them start to pop, about 2-4 minutes. Watch them closely and stir often to prevent burning. (Note: nuts and seeds burn easily so definitely watch them closely!)
Add your ingredients to the blender in the following order: basil and spinach, pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Blend on high for about 10-20 seconds at a time, stopping to scrape down the sides.
If things aren’t moving very much, I would recommend adding 1-2 Tablespoons of water.
Continue blending until the ingredients are finely chopped.
Turn the blender to low-medium speed and if possible, drizzle in the olive oil to help it emulsify the ingredients. If you do not have a removable cap in your blender lid to allow you to drizzle in the olive oil, you can just add it all at once and blend on medium-low speed for 10 seconds at a time, scraping down the sides as needed.
Blend until well combined and pour into a serving bowl or use immediately. When I'm serving this on the side, I like to drizzle it with a little more olive oil and garnish with more hemp seeds.
Notes
Makes 1 cup of pesto. Serving size is about 2 Tablespoons, but some people may prefer up to ¼ cupAdd water only if you need it. While it helps blend the ingredients, it may also dilute the flavor and make the pesto change color (becoming a bit brown) after a day or so in the fridge.For budget-friendly hemp hearts, trying buying them at Trader Joe's or order them online from Thrive Market. I find they have the best prices on hemp hearts. Store leftover pesto in the fridge for 3-5 days in an airtight container. To preserve the color, you can top the pesto with a layer of olive oil - this prevents oxygen from reaching the basil & spinach, which is what causes that brown color. You can also freeze it for several months.I recommend starting with just one small clove of garlic here. Each clove is going to have varying potency and I have occasionally ruined a batch by starting with two cloves! Nutrition Label is for approximately 2 Tablespoons of pesto. (But, as always, these calculations are only approximations as the FDA allows the USDA data to be up to 20% off.)