Free of dairy, peanuts, treenuts, soy, eggs, coconut, and gluten
Pesto traditionally has pine nuts and cheese in it, making it unsafe for anyone with a nut or dairy allergy. I had only heard good things about pesto though, so I wanted to try it for myself. Looking into a few other recipes that removed the nuts and cheese from pesto and substituted them in different ways, my sister and I found a way to create pesto dairy and nut free, that is also packed with vitamins and minerals from added kale and broccoli.
The recipe I made combined the dairy-nut free pesto sauce with ground turkey and lentil pasta for a delicious meal. Instead of lentil pasta, you can also use spaghetti squash, which I actually prefer. Here is the link to how to make spaghetti squash.
Everything You Need
- Pesto
- 1 head of red or green kale
- 4 oz of fresh basil
- 1 medium head of broccoli (steamed)
- 3 Tbs of sunbutter
- 1 Tbs of olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 lemon
- Splash of water until desired consistency
- Salt
- 1 lbs of ground turkey
- Box of pasta or pasta alternative
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- Thyme
- Oregano
Directions:
- Separate the kale leaves from the stems (don’t throw either away)
- Separate them by sliding your hand down the kale stem, against the leaves, to gently pull them off
- Wash the kale leaves
- Chop them coarsely
- Rinse the kale stems
- Chop them finely
**The stems hold a lot of nutrients and fiber, and they work really well in the pesto. I also like to save them to add to salads, sautes, or sauces.
- In a strong blender, combine the garlic clove, a splash of water, olive oil, steamed broccoli, and kale stems/leaves (you may not need all of the kale leaves).
- Blend on high until mostly pureed.
- Then, add in the sunbutter, lemon juice, and basil.
- Blend on high, pausing to scrape sides when necessary.
- Continue to add in water until pesto can reach a paste consistency. (If it becomes too watery, then play with adding in more sunbutter).
- Boil water for the pasta, add in pasta once boiling.
- While the water is boiling, begin to cook the ground turkey: In a large pan over high heat, pour in some olive oil, and add in the ground turkey.
- Break up the turkey and add in some water to the pan help break it up.
- Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and thyme.
- Combine all the ingredients together in the pan and toss together, then serve.
I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it as much as I did!
Katrina-Safe Eating 