Pumpkin seed pesto
Have you carved your Halloween pumpkin yet? What did you do with the seeds? Of course, you could roast them with various spices , but have you ever thought of making pesto with them?
The basil that was one of the first things to grow in my garden is one of the last things holding on. Since pesto can be made with any type of nut or seed, swapping out the most often used pine nuts for pumpkin seeds makes sense. It’s a great way to make sure that the seeds from your carved pumpkins don’t go to waste and the last of the basil harvest gets used. And, it would be a treat for those with nut allergies to be able to eat delicious pesto, wouldn’t it?
In case you missed the basic pesto recipe I gave you in early summer, I’m giving it to you again, this time with pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts.
Ingredients
- 3 cups of basil leaves
- 1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
- 3/4 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese – DO NOT use the shaker cheese
- 1 cup extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 1/2 cloves garlic
- 3/4 tsp salt
Directions
Put all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor. Pulse until well mixed and chopped. Drizzle olive oil in a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. You may use less than the cup if you like thicker pesto or more than the cup if you like drizzly pesto.
Use the pumpkin seed pesto like you would any other pesto - on pasta, pizzas, bruschetta - whatever your heart desires.
Image: Jinx!
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Robin Shreeves didn’t particularly like to cook until she started paying attention to how the food she feeds her family affects the environment. Once she started experimenting with fresh, organic and local foods, her outlook on food and cooking changed dramatically. When she’s not writing the eco-friendly food blog for Mother Nature Network or attending to her two personal blogs A Little Greener Every Day and South Jersey Locavore , she can often be found in the kitchen, playing with the food that she prepares for her husband and two boys.
Do you use the seeds in shell?
Yes, you use the seeds as is. Just toast fresh seeds right from the pumpkin (after having removed the pumpkin guts).
[...] put up two seasonal recipes on other sites this week: Lentil soup on MNN and Pumpkin seed pesto at Celebrate [...]
[...] Pumpkin seed pesto (celebrategreen.net) [...]
[...] Pumpkin seed pesto (celebrategreen.net) [...]
Another idea for pumpkins: the lazy gardeners compost.
For the last four years I’ve been throwing, literally, our Halloween pumpkins (decorated and uncut) into my front yard garden. Previously there were bushes there and the soil was terrible. But now we have the biggest tulips in the neighborhood. All I did was throw in the pumpkins!
Best,
Alix