Turn those late summer red peppers into pesto and enjoy them in pasta or risotto, as a spread over toasted bread or warm tortillas, or with some polenta fries.
It’s effortless healthy summer food for everybody!
I love to cook! But, almost equally, I love to have some previously prepared foods at hand, especially for those “hangry” moments.
Vegetable pesto is one of those foods that is great to have around. You can simply stir vegetable pesto into freshly cooked pasta and have a healthy dinner ready in 10 minutes. But that’s only the beginning, because there are many great ways to use pesto in your meals!
This recipe for red pepper pesto is very simple and easy to adapt. You will need only a few basic ingredients to make this red pepper pesto and get it done in 15 minutes!
What you’ll need:
garlic
walnut oil*
basil
nuts (or seeds)
..and the most important of all: buy meaty, delicious, sunbathed red peppers!
The oil and nuts (seeds) you add to peppers will only add a bit more character (and nutrients!) to your pesto and make it creamier. Together, they will make a flavorful add-in for your late summer dinners
Please read the notes for the substitute suggestions*
Unlike other red pepper pesto recipes, this one does not call for roasting peppers (for long 25 minutes) but grilling them – on your stove top – for mere 10 minutes, instead. Not only it will save you some time but you will also get those beautiful charred spots on your peppers that will add some more flavor to your pesto. I know, it’s now time to cut the talk and jump to recipe. Here it is – enjoy!
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RED PEPPER PESTO {vegan, gluten-free}
author: Iva Savić – this recipe first appeared on culinary postcards
serves: 4 oz jar
Prep time: 15 min
Ingredients:
- 2 red peppers (I used Italian sweet pepper but you can also use red bell pepper)
- a brush of olive oil for grilling pan
- 2 garlic cloves
- few basil leaves (more if desired)
- 2 Tbsp walnut oil*
- salt to taste (I used 1/2 tsp)
- 2 Tbsp almond flour**
Method:
- Wash peppers, cut stems and discard seeds, then cut each pepper in half lengthwise.
- Heat the grill pan well, brush with olive oil and grill peppers for about 4-5 minutes on each side, until slightly charred for better taste.
- In the meanwhile crush garlic cloves and pick basil leaves.
- Put grilled peppers in the blender, add garlic and basil, salt and walnut oil then blend briefly until you get a pesto. Do not blend for too long so as not to chop too much – a few pieces make the texture much nicer in the dish.
- Finally stir in almond flour, and leave to sit for a few minutes before serving.
Serve the pesto with crispy polenta fries (as pictured), spread it on toasted bread or mix it into warm pasta. You can prepare it in advance and keep it in the jar, refrigerated for up to 3 days.
- Notes
* walnut oil has a specific aroma which goes really nice with peppers and is a great source of fatty acids as well as vitamins. However, you can easily substitute it with extra-virgin olive oil
** instead of almond flour you can use blanched almonds (3 Tbsp) or even walnuts, sunflower seeds, or hemp seeds – even a combination of those. It will change the taste of pesto, but it will still be delicious! In that case just make sure to add it to your blender at the same time as other ingredients.
Jessica
iva@culinary postcards