Sunflower Pesto

Having our first guests of the season last week meant making lots of fun food!

Dagmar made the menus for the time.

And since she was still recovering from oral surgery and dry sockets and was living on tapioca pudding and mashed potatoes – they were quite creative!

Our evening meal included grilled chicken pesto pizza.

Oh yeah!

The only problem was that one of our guests, my soon-to-be-niece-in-law, has a deadly nut allergy.  Pesto has nuts.

Enter – the lovely sunflower seed! Not a nut, but with enough nut-like qualities to be a great substitute.

Three stripped basil plants and a few buzzes later – we had us some delicious nut-free pesto!

Sunflower Pesto

2 cups fresh basil, packed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, roasted and salted
3 medium garlic cloves
salt and black pepper

Put the sunflower seeds, garlic cloves, and Parmesan cheese in a food processor and process until chopped. Add the basil and process.

While the food processor is running, slowly dribble in the olive oil until you reach the desired consistency.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Voila!

Just spread that lusciousness on a pizza crust, top it with some grilled chicken and mozzarella cheese and bake it for a fabulous treat!

Or spread it on crackers, pita chips, or your fingers!

Enjoy!