Garden Fresh Mint Pesto
I have a small herb garden in my yard and it’s one of my greatest joys in the spring and summertime. I love using fresh herbs in my savory dishes such as soups, meats, salads, etc. Fresh herbs just add a whole new level of brightness and flavor to your dishes. Which brings me to one of my favorite herbs, mint. I have a huge patch of mint and I’m never able to use even half of the mint. In the past I have used garden fresh mint to make iced tea from early Summer to Fall. I also dry a large amount of mint to use for hot tea in the Winter. I do have a recipe for a mint cucumber salad and it’s delicious paired with turkey or chicken burgers. The cucumber salad is the only savory recipe that I have on the blog and lately I have been trying to come up with more ways to use or preserve more of the abundant mint that grows in my garden.
While I was brainstorming, I thought of pesto. I used similar ingredients and measurements from my past pesto creations but added some parsley since the mint has a strong flavor and I did not want it to overwhelm the lamb. The first time I made this pesto, I made it with a leg of lamb roast. This pairing was perfect because lamb has more of a gamy flavor than beef, pork or chicken. Lamb upholds its’ flavor without being overpowered by the moderately strong flavor of the mint.
This dish was a lot of fun to create and I’m excited to find one more way to use all my garden fresh mint. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as did. Thank you for visiting my second most favorite place, Emma’s Daily Bread. Cheers to a happy & healthy day!
Garden Fresh Mint Pesto
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Measuring cups & Spoons
Ingredients
- 3 OZ Fresh Mint leaves
- 1/2 OZ Fresh Parsley
- 4 Garlic cloves Minced
- 1/2 tsp Salt & Black Pepper
- 2/3 Cup Walnuts
- 3/4 Cup olive oil
- 1 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Only a couple steps needed to make this pesto. Place all ingredients acceptable olive oil and lemon juice in a food processor.
- While blending drizzle in the olive oil and than the lemon juice. Place in a sealed container & store in the refrigerator. All pestos freeze really well, if you double or triple the recipe like I usually do with most pestos place in 1/4 cup in small glass jars and freeze.
- I used this pesto with my recipe for leg of lamb roast, see separate post for this recipe instructions and ingredients.
- I also like this mint pesto or any pesto that you have in the fridge for lunch wraps filled with meat and leafy greens. I would also serve a small amount of fresh pesto with grilled white fish.