Frugal Pesto, two ways

 

Top left: herb stem pesto salmon artichoke pizza

My family loves pesto, but in our small town, pine nuts are hard to come by and the grocery stores only sporadically stock prepared pesto. Instead, I have started using roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds in place of the pine nuts -an 8 ounce bag runs about $1.50.

This week, I made a couple frugal pestos from pantry and fridge/freezer staples. I haven't had much luck with incorporating herb stems in stock, but they work as well as leaves in marinades and blended sauces. Neither was on the menu in the forseeable future, so I opted to turn them into pesto rather than let them go to waste. I used the same formula a few days later, swapping frozen peas for the cilantro and enhancing its flavor with dried mint. Each recipe makes about a cup of pesto.

 

Herb stem pesto

1 bunch cilantro stems

2 cloves garlic

1 scallion (green and white portion)

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

2 T olive oil

1/2 t lemon juice

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender.

Pea pesto

2/3 cup frozen peas, thawed

2 cloves garlic

1 scallion (green and white portion)

1 mint tea bag

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

2 T olive oil

1/2 t lemon juice

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender.