There is nothing better than pesto, and being able to incorporate a sprout like mung beans into your pesto to give a nutty texture and a nutrition boost with sprouted goodness.
My bestie Anna Valentine over at The Veggie Tree has created this amazing recipe to try with your Mung bean sprouts and many more recipes from her fantastic Spring/Summer Cook Book.
Pesto is great with tomato and Italian flavours ideal as a pasta sauce with ricotta or cream cheese, in burgers, mixed through pie fillings, it also makes tasty dip or cracker topping. This version also utilises any dark green leafy greens with mung beans means it is packed with essential nutrients. I have also added a few different options for the nut element as they all work well together and it’s nice to have options.
Mung Pesto
Makes 2 cups
Vegan | Gluten-free
The easiest way to make this is in a food processor. If you don’t have one you could use a mortar and pestle or just chop everything up as fine as you can, then mix together well. If you are using a food processor, start with:
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/4 c macadamia, cashew nuts or 2Tpinenuts
1/2 c mung bean sprouts
Whizz these together until roughly chopped. Then add:
3 c basil, silverbeet, kale, dandelion, plantain, nasturtium, onion weed, chicory, borage and/or clover leaves, roughly chopped and loosely packed
1/4 c parmesan, dairy or vegan, finely grated
125ml extra virgin olive oil
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Whizz again, scraping down the edges as necessary. Blitz again until finely chopped. Store in a jar in the fridge. I find covering the jar with tin foil to stop the light getting in helps keep it from going brown on the top and always keep a layer of olive oil on top as this also helps it to stay fresh.
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