This flavoursome red pepper pesto combines slowly roasted red peppers, pine nuts, dairy-free parmesan, basil and oak smoked garlic. You can stir it through cooked pasta, spread onto sandwiches or use it as a dip. For this recipe I used Oak Smoked Garlic which I bought from a local farm shop. It has an amazing flavour and loses the sharp bite of raw garlic. If however, this isn’t available where you are, simply replace it with one small clove of raw garlic instead
A tip for storing pesto; to ensure it doesn’t go mouldy before you have a chance to use it all, store leftover pesto in an ice cube tray in the freezer. Then simply defrost a few cubes as and when you need them. This ensures that the pesto stays fresh and then you don’t waste any
You’ll need;
- Four red peppers, quartered
- 15g of pine nuts
- 30g dairy-free parmesan, I used one by Violife
- One tablespoon of lemon juice
- Two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- Half a teaspoon of dried basil
- Three cloves of oak smoked garlic
Method;
- Begin by roasting the peppers, I did this by popping them into an air fryer at 180°C for 20 minutes. You may need to do this in batches to avoid overcrowding if you don’t have a large air fryer
- Once you have roasted the peppers, set them aside to cool before peeling and discarding the skins
- Next, add the roasted peppers, pine nuts, cheese, lemon juice, oil, basil and garlic into a blender/food processor
- Blend until you achieve the texture you prefer
- Finally, season to taste with salt and black pepper. Store the red pepper pesto in an airtight container in the fridge, or freezer to avoid wasting any
This was so tasty stirred through cooked pasta, all you have to do is boil the pasta as per the instructions on the packet. Then drain the pasta, and stir through a few tablespoons of the pesto through the pasta
