The unfortunate thing about pesto is that it comes in teeny tiny little jars. Also, there are only a couple around that are vegan and gluten-free. It is so easy to make your own, however, and so much better tasting than the shop bought variety. Most pesto recipes you can just shove into a food processor and blitz until it is ready. This recipe does require the extra step of roasting the aubergine and garlic together first, rather than simply blending everything. Trust me, it’s worth it. When you try it, you’ll see why you went to the trouble.
If you enjoy the recipes here, please show your support for this blog by clicking on the ads to help keep the free content coming!
Roasted Aubergine and Walnut Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 aubergine
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 60 g walnuts either halves or pieces
- 30 g fresh basil leaves
- 8 sundried tomato pieces from a jar
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 75 ml olive oil
- 75 ml rapeseed oil
- ½ tsp salt
- Generous dash black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to gas 6/200C/400F.
- Remove the stalk from the aubergine and cut it in half lengthways. Cut each half in half again so that you have 4 pieces. Now take the garlic bulb and cut it straight through the middle of the cloves, so that each clove is cut in half. The top half of the bulb will probably come apart while doing this. Put the aubergine and garlic into a mixing bowl and add the 3tbsp of olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Mix around until everything is coated and then transfer to a baking tray. Cook in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes, turning the aubergine and garlic half after 25 minutes to avoid them getting too dry. The aubergine is ready when you can easily slip a sharp knife into the flesh. Set aside to cool.
- Once the aubergine and garlic have cooled, remove the aubergine flesh with a spoon and put it into a food processor. Pop out all the roasted garlic flesh from the bottom half of the garlic bulb and put those in the food processor also. Refrigerate the remaining garlic from the top half for another dish.
- Put the walnuts, basil, sundried tomatoes and tomato puree into the food processor and then pour in the two oils. Pulse on full speed for a second or two at a time until you have a fully amalgmated mixture, then add the salt and pepper and pulse again.
- Transfer the pesto to an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to a week.
ORDER YOUR COPY OF MY LATEST COOKBOOK
VEGGING OUT FROM AMAZON
AVAILABLE IN BOTH PAPERBACK AND KINDLE FORMAT
Check out my latest recipes here
Rhubarb and Blueberry Jam
This is a great recipe if you have some leftover rhubarb in your garden, in addition to some fresh blueberries, available now in most supermarkets if you don’t grow them. It’s the kind of thing you can throw together late one evening, as it only requires the occasional stir. You can then leave it to…
Caramelised Red Onion Dip
This is the perfect time of year to be experimenting with cold and light food. Easy items that you can store in the fridge and eat over a few days as the mood takes you. Dips are great for outdoor eating. You can put a selection of homemade dips on the table on any occasion,…
Roasted Asparagus, Basil and Walnut Pesto Served with Baby Potatoes and Broad Beans
You can get asparagus imported all year round in most supermarkets, but British asparagus has its growth season between May and July, with early appearance often at the end of April. Now is the perfect time to make use to these green spears in your everyday cooking. My choice for this recipe was to roast…
Asparagus, Mushroom and Leek Pastries
April 23rd marks the start of asparagus season and we are now starting to see British asparagus appear on the shelves. Young asparagus is a thin and tender vegetable that is perfect for cooking a variety of dishes. It cooks quickly, so you must keep an eye on it. The more mature plant is thicker…
Vegan Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
What is it about a plate of plump vegan meatballs in a rich tomato sauce, nestled comfortably on a soft pillow of spaghetti that is so satisfying even before a single mouthful is taken? It is a dish where even the sight and smell of it has its own umami. It creates thrilling anticipation from…
Vegan Enchiladas
To veganise something like Enchiladas now is incredibly easy with the variety of ingredients available in most supermarkets. For this one I have used fresh vegan mince, along with mushrooms and onions for the chilli base. Don’t worry if you don’t like eating vegan mince, you can always substitute this chilli for my Sweet Potato,…
Spanish Lentils with Vegan Chorizo and Black Pudding
I first tried this dish about 25 years ago, when my Spanish girlfriend made it for me in a bedsit we shared in North London back in the mid-nineties. It was cooked on one of those old Baby Belling stoves that you would often see in bedsits back in those days (they might still have…
Vegan Fudge Cookies
We’ve been enjoying packets of vegan fudge in our house for quite a while now and a recent conversation with my wife got me thinking about how great it would be to have the fudge in a cookie, just like it was chocolate chip. This recipe is the product of that discussion: a very simple…
20
20
20
20