Artichoke & Pine Nut Pesto
Use this versatile pesto as a pasta sauce, or omit the reserved pasta water and use to spread over a crusty baguette as an appy, or mix with some mayo and use as a condiment on sandwiches or burgers.
Ingredients
- 1 cup marinated artichokes drained & quartered
- 2 Tbsp pine nuts toasted
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 Tbsp fresh tarragon
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
- Boil pasta of your choice, and cook to al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining..
- Add pine nuts and remaining ingredients into a food processor and pulse until you get the consistency you want. Use as little or as much olive oil as you like - adding the reserved pasta water will thin the pesto out into a sauce (if you don't use as much oil in the pesto, you may need to add more water).
- Place pasta into a large skillet, and add pesto. Stir in enough pasta water until mixture loosens and a sauce is created. Gently heat until warmed throughout.
Notes
- In place of the marinated artichokes, you can use plain canned or frozen ones. You just may need to add more herbs and seasonings until you get the flavor you want.
- For Dairy-Free: replace parmesan with an equal amount of cooked quinoa. Stir in the quinoa after you've processed the rest of the ingredients, or you can pulse it a few times if you like in the food processor - whatever texture you like. The quinoa will add the volume to the pesto, then all you need to add is a bit more seasonings to replace the flavor lost from the cheese.
- For Dairy-Free: replace parmesan with an equal amount of cooked quinoa. Stir in the quinoa after you've processed the rest of the ingredients, or you can pulse it a few times if you like in the food processor - whatever texture you like. The quinoa will add the volume to the pesto, then all you need to add is a bit more seasonings to replace the flavor lost from the cheese.
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