Basil Flax Seed Pesto Recipe –  Basil Pesto Pasta Recipe

Basil Flax Seed Pesto recipe. This vegan basil pesto is so creamy and you will not even miss the parmesan cheese. Use this pesto to top your pasta, pizza and any meat of your choice and this freezes so well too.

Making pesto out of basil leaves was in my bucket list for a long time now. The reason being, I do not get fresh basil leaves at my place. I had to make do with bottled ones whenever the craving for basil pesto pasta hit me.

Few days ago, my friend ‘J’ got me fresh basil leaves and finally I got to do some fresh homemade basil pesto. But using pine nuts and parmesan cheese is so out of question for me. Those tow ingredients being imported are very expensive and I was not going to swipe my card over things that I won’t be using frequently.

Also I wanted my pesto to be creamy and thick and not coarse in consistency and especially not of that sick green that the bottled ones sport. You can also check out this vegan roasted red bell pepper sauce for pasta.

So, this basil flax seed pesto is without pine nuts and parmesan cheese and guess what you will not miss them at all and I will not be making it any other way from now on provided I get fresh supply once again.

I reserved some flax seed powder when I made a fresh batch of flax seed butter recently and used it to make this basil pesto. But since I wanted the color to be a lush green, I decided to blanch the almonds which I used instead of pine nuts and it worked beautifully.

But while you can replace and use almost all of the ingredients, do not cringe on using olive oil. I used Borges Extra virgin olive oil. You can any good quality oil as long as its extra virgin as that’s what takes the pesto to another whole new level.

Long time back, whenever I used to make coriander pesto, the color used to turn dark quickly and I struggled to understand the reason for it and tried to curb the quicker oxidisation but failed a lot of times.

But finally learned the art of keeping pesto a lush green. So follow the step exactly and your pesto will also be a beautiful lush green even after a week of grinding it instead of turning dark green.

I used all of the juice from the lemon pictured here. The juice will of course depend on the size of the lemon,as it varies from country to country. I’ve used coarse sea salt, so if you are using regular table salt use just 1/4 to 1/2 tsp.

Basil Flax Seed Pesto Recipe details below:

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Basil Flax Seed Pesto Recipe -  How to make Basil Pesto Pasta

Basil Flax Seed Pesto without pine nuts and parmesan cheese for basil pesto pasta.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Main

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 1 bottle

Author: Radhika

Ingredients:

• Fresh basil leaves - 2 cups packed
• Garlic - 2 cloves
• Almonds - 1/4 cup
• Flax seeds - 2 tbsp
• Lemon juice - 2 to 3 tbsp
• Avocado pulp - 2 tbsp
• Coarse sea salt - 1 tsp
• Extra Virgin Olive oil - 1/3 cup approx.,

Instructions:

• Heat 1/2 cup water in a pan and bring it to a rolling boil. Drop the almonds into the hot water and close with a lid and let it sit for 15 mins.
• After 15 mins, remove the skin from the blanched almonds and keep aside.
• Meanwhile, heat a pan and dry roast flax seeds for 1 min until fragrant, take off pan and let it cool. Transfer to a bowl and keep aside.
• In a mixer jar or a food processor, add blanched almonds, roasted flax seeds, garlic, avocado pulp, sea salt, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil and grind to a smooth paste.
• Now add basil leaves and pulse at regular intervals. This will prevent the leaves from darkening and turning the pesto black.
• Add the remaining olive oil and grind to a smooth paste.
• Take a taste check at this stage. If the pesto tastes bland, add remaining 1 tbsp lemon juice and more salt to suit your taste buds.
• Basil flax seed pesto is ready.
• Transfer to a clean, dry jar and keep it always refrigerated. Use within a week.

For Basil Pesto Pasta:

• Cook pasta according to the pack instructions.
• Drain into a colander and return the pasta to the pan.
• Add required pesto to pasta and toss well to combine.
• Serve piping hot or warm.