Nutritious pesto recipe?!

[wigwam1973]

Hi there

My toddler (2.3 years) has decided that pesto is the best thing since sliced bread, and I am keen to make my own. Does anyone have a recipe for it that packs in a few extra goodies to pad it out and make it more nutritious.

Would it be worth adding sunflower/pumpkin seeds which will be ground down anyway? Or are pine nuts just as good for you?

Thanks, in advance.

Never tried anything else but pine nuts.
Can add roast peppers to make red pesto whatever is called properly. But really pesto is really nutritions as it is, and all that raw garlic in it is super good for you.

In the days when my toddler would actually eat pesto [wistful sigh] I sometimes put some spinach in- a cube of the frozen spinach per portion. The basil and garlic overpower the spinach pretty well.

You can make pesto with nearly anything. This is a fascinating discovery I recently made and it makes me v. happy with my food processor. I did a walnut, parsley, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice one the other day which DH and friend ate with relish.

The proportions are up to you, but ultimately all you need to do is bung the ingredients in a food processor and hit go.

If you have one of the Magimix ones that have a pulse function, try supervising the small one pushing the button. It's only a thought based on my own remembrance of being small. I loved doing grownup things.

I tend to throw in whatever I have most in the garden - latest version was with chives, parsley, rocket and spinach. And yes - DD adores pressing the buttons on the wee chopper - so much so she now thinks it's her absolute right... sometimes add pine nuts, sometimes don't; a bit of yoghurt can substitute for olive oil