Recipe Vegan Sorrel & Pistachio Pesto

SatNavSaysStraightOn

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So I join the many making pesto with pistachios for the current challenge. This recipe is a fairly standard vegan pesto recipe adapted to use English sorrel instead of basil. I've used unsalted pistachios throughout because I'd rather control my salt. It should go without saying that I'm using shelled pistachios but I'll reiterate it! It is entirely upto you if you wish to use roasted pistachios or unroasted. I used unroasted. I happen to have a garden veg plot with 2 varieties of sorrel in it and a lemon tree with too many lemons, so this recipe is ideal for me and can easily be made with any nut of choice. I've used the sorrel that is only green in this recipe, not the red & green leaves variety. I've also used the tender stalks because they contain a lot of the flavour of the sorrel, but take care because the stalks do became very fibrous, so check them frequently as you prepare the leaves.


Ingredients
200g sorrel leaves & tender stalks
150g shelled pistachios
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
+10 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
250ml (1 cup) extra virgin olive oil
10 tbsp Nutritional Yeast (optional)

Method
  1. Add the nuts, lemon juice & zest, garlic, salt and 225 ml olive oil to the bowI of a food processor and blend until almost evenly chopped. It is better under blended than over blended so stop early if in doubt.
  2. Add in the sorrel leaves (and nutritional yeast, if using) and blend until evenly chopped.
  3. Decant into suitable container and ensure that the remaining oil covers the top of the pesto completely.

This picture shows the 2 varieties of sorrel, I grow in my garden. I have used the variety on the left that is only green for this recipe.

serving suggestion
 
Last edited:
I'm a bit confused by what you mean by unshelled pistachios. If they were in shells then you would need to shell them before using in this recipe. Do you mean 'un-skinned'?

You have achieved such a lovely vibrant colour!
 
I'm a bit confused by what you mean by unshelled pistachios. If they were in shells then you would need to shell them before using in this recipe. Do you mean 'un-skinned'?

You have achieved such a lovely vibrant colour!
typo. I'm using handwriting recognition software on my tablet. It doesn't always work and I don't always see the errors... I'll edit.
 
You have achieved such a lovely vibrant colour
Yes. I think the vibrancy of the sorrell leaves also helped. I kept expecting it to go darker or even "decay" as sorrell leaves don't fair well once picked and don't stand up to being kept in water the way other herbs or green leaves do, but the colour hasn't changed yet which has really surprised me. Guess the layer of oil in the preserving jar must be working its magic! I made them 2 or 3 days ago now (all 3 pesto varieties were made at the same time. I'll make some more of this one later this coming week because we have 50 or 100 times the quantity needed for this recipe ! Summer has definitely arrived here now! )
 
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