One of the obstacles to changing eating habits is not knowing how to take advantage of the ingredients. After all, vegetables, legumes, herbs, etc, don’t bring instruction books!
To work my creativity in the kitchen, one of the challenges I like to give myself is to create new recipes with what comes in my Quinta do Arneiro veggie basket. Sometimes it works better than others, this was one of the good ones.
When I received a big bunch of Lemon Basil I felt like trying a new pesto . And since I had a big, super juicy, tomato I decided to combine the two… And, while I was at it, I added the yellow zucchini.
The combination worked very well and I was left with pesto for the following day’s salads.
Try it and then tell me if you like it!
Tomato Carpaccio with a Lemon Basil Pesto
This version of pesto with an unusual herb - the lemon basil - and seeds makes this recipe very nutritious. It can be a refreshing summer starter, or a side dish.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
Pesto
- 1 cup Lemon Basil
- 1 cup Baby Spinach
- 2 tbsp Hemp Seeds
- 2 tbsp Sunflower Seeds
- 1/2 Lemon - the juice
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Water (cold)
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
Carpaccio
- 1 Large Tomato
- 1 Yellow Zucchini
- Sea salt (or Fleur de Sel)
- Black Pepper
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
Pesto
- Place all the ingredients in a small food processor and blend well.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary: I always like a strong taste of lemon, so I added a little more juice. The lemon zest would also be great here but I forgot... If, on the contrary, it's too accidic for you, add a little more olive oil.
Carpaccio
- Cut the tomato into very thin slices (I used a mandolin), and do the same with half a yellow zucchini.
- Arrange the slices on a plate, season with good sea salt and black pepper. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil.
- Arrange generous teaspoons of the pesto on top of tomato and zucchini.
- Serves with the rest of the pesto on the side, for those who want to have more.
