Kale Pesto (Gluten Free/Dairy Free)

A fresh take on an old classic, this fresh and vibrant pesto is a delicious and nutritious accompaniment to any meal!

Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

Servings 2.5 cups approx.

4 packed cups Kale (de-stemmed, washed, dried and chopped or torn into small pieces)
2 cloves Garlic
2 TBSP Nutritional Yeast
1 cup Pine Nuts
2 Lemons (zested and juiced) Approx. 4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste

With your processor's blade in place, add peeled garlic cloves and pine nuts to the bowl of your food processor and pulse until chopped to a fine texture.
Add chopped kale, lemon zest and the juice of the 2 lemons to the food processor.
With processor running, slowly pour the oil into the bowl of the food processor until everything is combined.
Add nutritional yeast and pulse to combine.
Add sea salt and pepper to taste and pulse a few times to combine.
Transfer pesto into mason jars. You can choose to heat seal jars, but I simply pop the jars in the freezer (leave some room at the top of the jar for expansion.
Keeps in fridge for approx. 5 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

If you tolerate dairy, you may choose to substitute 1/2 a cup of grated Parmesan cheese for the Nutritional Yeast.
Other nuts or seeds may be substituted for the pine nuts or a combination of nuts and seeds could be used. Some options include walnuts, pumpkin seeds or hemp hearts.
Use pesto over roasted meats, swirl it into your scrambled eggs, toss with roasted vegetables or make a gluten free pesto pasta by tossing it with some spiralized zucchini and cooked chickpea pasta.

Keyword dairy free, gluten free, kale, pesto, sauces