Recipe: Walnut Pesto

According to Donna Klein in The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen pesto traditionally does not contain dairy. She explains that traditional pesto contains sea salt, whose rich flavor and intense 'mouth feel' create the savory flavor we all love.

Here's my (very easy) pesto recipe:

First, lightly brown the walnuts - do this by heating them in a pan lightly dusted with PAM or olive oil and toast them over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until just browned -- be careful they will burn very quickly, so keep your eyes on them!



Add the toasted walnuts to a large bunch of basil leaves (about 1-2 cups), sprinkle with 1-2 tsp sea salt and puree
Traditionally you would also add some olive oil, in an attempt to make this recipe lower calorie and lower fat, I omitted the olive oil, it changes the texture slightly, but still makes an amazingly rich pesto

I used this batch to top some chopped tomatoes, it's a really fresh tasting meal
I paired it with some fresh sweet corn, very light and summery and really good!