Summer Pea and Mint Pesto

Peas are so overlooked! Steaming or boiling peas don’t do them any justice at all. So I thought, “Why not a pesto?” because it’s easy to make and gives the humble pea a bit of a glamourous makeover.

Just throw all the ingredients into your blender and give it a few minutes to turn this into something fresh, vibrant and full of goodness. Peas also have a bit of protein in them so don’t think that you won’t meet your macros if you opt for peas now and then. Also, nutritional yeast flakes are anti-viral, antibacterial, a great source of vitamin B12 (hey vegans!) and FULL of protein. Don’t worry about candida either; nutritional yeast does NOT cause yeast infections. Au contraire, it’s actually prescribed to combat them!

I like my pea pesto to be thick and creamy, but feel free to add more water or oil for the consistency that you love. The thicker pestos spread so nicely on toast so I keep a batch in the freezer for rainy days that call for toasted pesto sandwiches.

Summer Pea and Mint Pesto

Ingredients

• 1 cup of raw baby peas, defrosted or fresh
• 8 – 10 leaves of fresh mint
• A good squeeze of lemon juice (2 ½ tsp)
• 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
•  ¼ cup of water
•  ¼ cup of cashews, macadamias or blanched almonds
• 3 tsp nutritional yeast flakes
• A generous cracking of salt and black pepper

Method

1. Place all the ingredients into your blend and blend at high speed, pausing to scrape down the sides.
2. Blend until creamy. Add more water if you’d prefer a weaker pesto.

Enjoy 🙂