SAGE & WALNUT PESTO

I usually have a lot of fresh herbs in my fridge, but often don’t have the time to finish them before they go bad. In those cases I make pesto, which is an excellent way to preserve herbs while making an excellent spread for a sandwich or sauce for pasta.

I recently found myself with a big bunch of sage that I bought by accident, and a little leftover parsley and mint, so I made pesto. I used walnuts instead of the traditional (and more expensive) pine nuts, as they go really well with sage.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
• ¼ cup mint
• 1 cup (2 ½ oz.) (70 grams) sage, packed
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ cup (2 oz.) (57 grams) walnuts, toasted
• ½ cup (½  oz.) (14 grams) grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup (3 ¾ oz.) (106 grams) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest (organic)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the parsley, mint, sage, garlic, walnut, Parmesan and olive oil in a blender and blend to a rough puree.
2. Mix in the zest and lemon juice and add salt to taste.
3. Keep the pesto in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.