Pumpkin Seed and Kale Pesto

My Pumpkin Seed and Kale Pesto is an incredibly healthy, vibrant and easy homemade pesto, perfect for spaghetti squash, gluten free pasta or veggies! You’ll love whipping this up and hiding a kale salad in your pasta dinner. 

Don’t tell my husband, but he basically ate an entire kale salad with his pasta! So here’s how this recipe came to be:

My friend and I are fully into the Tone It Up fall 31 day challenge. By fully, I mean I’m about 90:10 with the food. I follow the meal plan 90% of the time and the other 10% I’m going apeshit crazy for coffee nut m&m’s and pumpkin spice ice cream from our local creamery. Balance.

Anyways, she messaged me asking where the recipe for the “pumpkin seed pesto” was that was in an upcoming meal. Good question. I rummaged through the meal plans and finally found the recipe she was referring to. It sounded pretty good, but already like something I would change drastically for my taste.

So, here’s what I came up with.

First of all, that’s a ton of kale, right? Well, just so you know, when you blitz 5 cups of kale in a food (I used the Twister Jar of my Blendtec to make it really easy) it comes down to less than a cup. So, I promise you’re not making a vat of pesto! Though, that wouldn’t be a terrible thing, right? You can also sub out one of the cups of kale for a cup of fresh basil, but I didn’t have any on hand and really didn’t miss it in the end result.

I added some garlic, which I love to add another sharp flavor tone to the whole thing. And lemon to brighten it up.

I used shredded parmesan cheese, like classic pesto, but if you’re vegan then you can omit it or use nutritional yeast instead. But please, unless that’s the case, use it! When the pesto gets warm (when you mix it with pasta or veggies) the cheese melts and it all turns silky smooth.

Pumpkin seeds! These are the star of the game but their flavor isn’t obvious. If you like a more pronounced flavor, try toasting some or all of them! I like keeping them raw so they melt into the finished pesto.

Why should you eat pumpkin seeds? They are packed with magnesium (blood pressure benefits), zinc (immune health), Omega 3 fatty acids and anti-inflammatory properties! Did you know that? Now you do. And you’re probably shoveling in an extra handful while you read this…

And then I used some walnuts too because I like the taste, texture and the added healthy fats.

Oh, speaking of fat, I used avocado oil for this recipe! I used a “low heat” avocado oil, meaning it shouldn’t be heated (don’t try to fry anything in it) or it will burn. The taste is pure and bright…along with the bright green color! It’s just beautiful. You can certainly use an extra virgin olive oil though if you prefer. No biggie.

All sounds amazing? Now what will you put it on?

I’ve put mine on spaghetti squash! When I make spaghetti squash, I usually use the microwave method, but you can certainly roast yours. Or just use your favorite gluten free pasta. And when we had it all for dinner, I sautéed up some shrimp and sweet peas to go with it. It would also be awesome with a hefty portion of my garlic herb chickpeas.

Ready for the recipe?

Pumpkin Seed and Kale Pesto

2016-10-16 18:49:46

My Pumpkin Seed and Kale Pesto is an incredibly healthy, vibrant and easy homemade pesto, perfect for spaghetti squash, gluten free pasta or veggies! You'll love whipping this up and hiding a kale salad in your pasta dinner. (makes 1 cup of pesto, appx 4 portions)

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Ingredients

1. 5 packed cups of kale*
2. 1 large garlic clove
3. juice of 1 lemon
4. ¼ cup plus 1-2Tbs. avocado oil (or olive oil)
5. 2 Tbs. shredded parmesan cheese
6. ¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds (or toasted, unsalted if you want a deeper flavor)
7. 2 Tbs. raw walnuts
8. ½ tsp. Kosher salt

Instructions

1. In your blender, blend the kale, garlic, lemon juice and ¼ cup oil until the kale is in tiny pieces (almost blended). If you’re using a jar with a plunger, you may have to continuously plunge while blending. Then, add the cheese, pumpkin seeds and walnuts. Add 1-2 Tbs of oil depending on how dry your blended kale is to help the nuts and seeds blend in. Blend until smooth (or as smooth as you like your pesto; I like mine with a bit texture) then add the salt and stir that in. Taste it and add more salt if you want it or add more oil if you like a looser texture.

Notes

1. *If you’re using large kale leaves, pull them off the stems and put them straight into your blender. When you press down on them they should hit around the 5c line on your blender basin.
2. Also, if you decide to use BASIL too, use 4 cups of kale and 1 cup of fresh basil leaves!

By melissa @ treats with a twist

Treats With a Twist https://www.treatswithatwist.com/

This is not a sponsored post but I’m about to throw some affiliate links at you (I get a few pennies if you purchase anything, your price isn’t affected). If you’re going to be blending yummy things like pesto often, I’d highly recommend you invest in an awesome Vitamix, a Blendtec, or a great food processor. I have all of the above and love them.