Mixed Seed Pesto

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One thing I love about being a student is the necessity to be resourceful with whatever food is to hand. With a need to budget, being economical with your weekly shop is an art, and I am forever searching for ways to make my food go further without EVER skimping on flavour or going hungry. So, today I knocked up a satisfying, tasty and fresh salad which my taste buds were certainly thankful for, after noting the anorexic looking shelves of my dying fridge. I seem to be using pumpkin seeds a lot at the moment in this Autumnal weather, so I decided to use a handful of mixed seeds to create a pesto dressing for the last of my sweet, ripe tomatoes and pessimistic salad leaves. Homemade pesto is always more wholesome and scrumptious than the jarred equivalent in the shops and this one certainly didn’t let me down……

  • 2 tbsp of mixed seeds (I used pumpkin, sesame and sunflower)
  • Small bunch of coriander and flat leaf parsley
  • Small handful of grated parmesan
  • 1 small garlic glove
  • ½ small lemon
  • Salt and pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  1. Start by grinding the garlic to a paste with some coarse salt in a pestle and mortar.
  2. Toast the seeds in a dry frying pan until they release their flavour and begin to crackle.
  3. Add to the pestle and mortar and grind to a chunky paste with the garlic. You can grind it as much as you like. I like to keep the seeds a bit chunky to add a bit of texture
  4. Now add the herbs and parmesan and grind to a green paste.
  5. Add a splash of oil and a squeeze of lemon juice to make a thick pesto or to your desired consistency.
  6. Taste and adjust using salt and pepper and more lemon if you like.

I added a large tablespoon of my pesto to a mix of bitter cos lettuce, sweet tomatoes and some cress for a lovely salad. This would be delicious topped with some salty, fried halloumi cheese…..but, sadly my fridge didn’t deliver on that one.image