Recipe

Mint Finally Made it to the Pesto Party.

By Ellen Gibbs at University of New Hampshire

Is mint taking over your backyard? Then make it into pesto, in a pinch. 

Mint is great in ice cream, tea, as well as countless other dishes, but have you tried it in pesto? What's great about making pesto is that it can keep a long time in the refrigerator, and used in so many recipes: pasta, sandwiches, wraps, or a dressing in salad.

Missing an ingredient? Feel free to swap marcona almonds for walnuts or cashews. As long as you stay within the ratios of ingredients, the rest will do itself. Play with new flavors — pistachios, mint, snow peas, or sunflower seeds, mint, and parsley. The combinations are endless — but pesto this good, won't be.

Backyard Mint Pesto

  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 5 mins
  • Total Time: 10 mins
  • Servings: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 cup fresh mint packed
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley packed
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup marcona almonds
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

Ellen Gibbs

Step 1

Gather ingredients and strip the herbs off the larger stems. Roughly chop cheese and garlic.

Ellen Gibbs

Step 2

Throw all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until smooth or starts to take shape.

Ellen Gibbs

Step 3

The texture will look and feel similar to natural almond butter, but slightly less wet.

Ellen Gibbs

Step 4

After reaching desired consistency, store in a glass jar for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Ellen Gibbs