Easy Red Pesto Gluten-Free, Paleo

Last updated on November 18th, 2020 at 11:45 am

Making this healthy red pesto is fairly easy and doesn’t require a ton of ingredients! You can use it in pasta or in sandwiches, or with zoodles or chicken for a low-carb option!

There’s nothing better than pesto, ok? And this one is homemade. And when I say home, I mean heaven.

I made this pesto the other day with the intention to overuse it in lots and lots of dishes and I did just that. I’ve used it in sandwiches, pasta, pizza, but it can also work with chicken, zoodles or in salads.

You can also eat it directly from the little jar (or the food processor) with a tiny spoon. I did not do that.

I’m lying.

I used walnuts instead of pine nuts in this pesto because I’m cheap. Ok, also because I like walnuts and they make me smart, pretty and healthy…

Yeah, mostly because I’m cheap.

I still don’t get why pine nuts cost more than a kidney.

Anyway.

I’m not very familiar with the magical Italian language which makes even the words “I crapped my pants” sound like a song, but I think they call this pesto, Pesto Rosso. And I think Rosso means ossom or awesome.

I should definitely put “Charging for language lessons” on my infinite to-do list.

Well, I’m positive you appreciate this free advanced language lesson, but you can’t be enjoying it as much as I enjoy dipping my nose into this wonderful pesto. Pretty sure that’s what pesto is made for.

To make this fabulous little pesto you need just 5 ingredients, 5 minutes and a food processor.

After that you don’t need anything. Pesto will take care of everything in your life.

HEALTH AND BEAUTY BENEFITS

This pesto is a good addition to make your meals not just tastier, but also healthier.

It’s rich in omega-3’s (thank you, affordable walnuts!), Lycopene (thank you also, a little bit overpriced dried tomatoes), vitamin E (thank you, olive oil) as well as anti-viral and anti-bacterial molecules (thank you basil & garlic).

Yield: 1

Easy Red Pesto | Low Carb and Vegan

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Easy and healthy red pesto recipe that you can use in pasta, with zoodles, chicken, in a salad or as a toast spread. This recipe is vegan, low carb and paleo!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 4-5 sun-dried tomatoes (soak in water for 30 min)
• 7-8 walnut halves
• 1 garlic clove (optional)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 ripe tomato
• 1 cup basil leaves

Instructions

1. Soak dried tomatoes in water for 30 min, so they are easier to process. I did that because mine were not in oil, but really just dried.
2. During this time let a crushed garlic clove sit in 1 tbsp olive oil, again 30 min.
3. Wash and chop tomato, rinse basil leaves.
4. In your food processor process walnut halves first.
5. After the 30 min, remove garlic from olive oil and take tomatoes out of the soaking water.
6. Add to the walnuts in your food processor the garlic-infused olive oil, the soaked tomatoes, the fresh chopped tomato, and the basil leaves.
7. Process until smooth. My pesto did not need any additional water/fluid since the tomato, basil and olive oil were enough, but if you need to add a tbsp. or 2 water, but don’t overdo it.
8. I did not need to add salt, but this depends on the salt content of the sundried tomatoes, mine were salty. If you need to add some salt to taste.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

1

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 283Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 19mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 6g

Hope you like the pesto, let me know how it goes!

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