Ayurvedic Pesto
Ayruvedic pesto was introduced to me by Dianna of the Dhyanna center when I attended her Ayruvedic course somewhere back in 2012 and 2013. She referred to as medicinal food which I loved the idea and adopted.
I made this pesto regularly for a year before I moved to Isreal. It was even one of my foods I made and brought to Burning Man the year 2014 which is also the Burning Man that I met the man of my life. It is packed full of greens, oil, spices, and garlic which make it truly medicinal.
I am very happy to have this recipe is back in my life in full force. For the last couple of months (2021) I have been making a super batch of this pesto twice a month which is lasting us about ten days. And my three year old is asking to lick the spatula full of pesto like I licked a spatula covered in cake batter when I was a kid.
Happy food dancing is inevitable with this pesto, everyone who has shared this pesto in our home has had a satisfied moan; even my little one’s great grandma who doesn’t believe in or eat vegetables lights up and loves it.
“Pesto (Italian: [ˈpesto], Ligurian: [ˈpestu]), or (to refer to the original dish) pesto alla genovese (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpesto alla dʒenoˈveːse, -eːze]), is a sauce originating in Genoa, the capital city of Liguria, Italy.[1] It traditionally consists of crushed garlic, European pine nuts, coarse salt, basil leaves, and hard cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano (also known as Parmesan cheese) or Pecorino Sardo (cheese made from sheep’s milk), all blended with olive oil.[2]”
Ingredients
“Know that the amounts are not exact; I always improvise and feel the food.”
Start by blending using a powerful blender like a Vitamix (what I used in 2014) or an Immersion blender (what I am using currently 2022). Start with blending the ingredients of the base first and thoroughly blend until you have a consistency similar to a nut butter. Use olive oil liberally to help the blending process out.
Base First
- 1 cup of roasted seeds (dry roasted and not roasted with seed oils)
Pumpkin, sunflower, and or pine nuts- roasted to increase digestive ease.
- 1 head of Garlic – peeled and chopped if using an immersion blender
- Salt – good amount (couple teaspoons)
- Tablespoon Cumin – I add more than a tablespoon for flavor and digestion
- Olive Oil 1/2 cup +
- 1 whole lemon cut and de-seeded. Include about 1/4 or lemon rind.
- Leek- the 5” white section at the bottom (without the green top)
**Blend above first before adding in the greens. If using a small immersion blender container you may want to take out most of the base and slowly add it in as you blend the greens.
Greens Second
- Greens 3-5 bunches
- Always use basil, and add in either cilantro and or parsley.
- Olive oil- another cup +
**Consider that this is a challenge to blend even for a Vitamix so continuously stir and add liquid olive oil as often as your blender would like and makes noises for.
Method
Pesto Storage
The trick to keeping the pesto tasty and fresh is in keeping it covered in olive oil. Every time I use the pesto, I push down all the sides and flatten it out and then pour a new layer of olive oil on top to stop it from oxidizing, before putting it back in the fridge. This way the pesto can be stored for a week and we often push it a little past that.
Organic*
I always use all organic ingredients to make pesto; the greens are particularly important to be organic because greens are often heavily sprayed with pesticides when not organic.
Prep Time : 1 hour
This recipe takes me about an hour by myself. Taking the basil off the leaves is time consuming; I often make it a game with my little one because I love playing in the kitchen with her.
Ps.. The first day the garlic can be a little spicy for her, but by the second day the garlic mellows out.