Sun Dried Tomato Basil Pesto (Dairy Free)

The thing that I love most about having a food blog is when I get an idea for a recipe or a dish in my head, instead of just thinking about it, I actually go try it.

And more often than not it works!

The only downside is that now I have a whole bunch of cookbooks that I never use.

Since starting our Whole30, I’ve been trying to come up with new recipes for the blog that are Whole30 approved. Don’t get me wrong, The Husband and I fall back on the regulars a lot – hamburger patties, crockpot pork carnitas, and roast chicken in lettuce cups frequently star in our weeknight dinners, but I love the challenge of creating new dishes that don’t include grains, dairy, legumes, sugar or alcohol.

Enter this sun dried tomato basil pesto. Hello, Love.

I love pesto, but I don’t love that it usually includes parmesan cheese and is therefore not Whole30 compliant. (Don’t get me wrong, I love the parmesan cheese in pesto, just not while on the Whole30, for obvious reasons.) So, I decided to see how I could recreate a dairy-free version without sacrificing the flavor.

This is where the sun dried tomato makes its debut.

I love sun dried tomatoes. I’ll add them to a salad, chop them up in pasta, or eat them plain. So it was only natural for me to add them to my basil pesto, right? Of course right! (Bonus points for anyone who knows the movie I just quoted!)

This turned out to be another thing I wanted to eat for dinner. With a spoon. I added a splash of lemon juice and some sea salt to add the tang that was missing from the parmesan, and this stuff came out better than I could have imagined!

The Husband and I proceeded to eat it topped on hamburger patties, added into some chicken salad, and we even used it to make roasted eggplant – which was to die for.

It’s that good.

DAIRY FREE SUN DRIED TOMATO BASIL PESTO

yield: 1 cup pesto

time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (julienned)

2/3 cup toasted pine nuts

3 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a food processor, add all ingredients except the olive oil and pulse to combine. While your food processor is running, add the olive oil until your pesto forms. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula occasionally to ensure everything is combined well. Done!