Walnut and Harissa Pesto... in a NutriBullet! (Recipe)

Back when I lived in Paris, I never had a food processor, nor a blender. However, I did have a portable and handy NutriBullet on hand to make smoothies and nice cream.

Even though I now have a proper food processor, I still use my NutriBullet to make savoury dishes when I want to keep my cleaning up to a minimum.

This is a pesto recipe I devised for my NutriBullet. The dish is spicy, hearty, and flavourful. You can 100% recreate this recipe using a blender or a food processor. However, the modifications that I have made to my original recipe have ensured this is optimal for a NutriBullet.

Read on and enjoy this fun twist on the iconic Italian sauce!

The Recipe

Time allotment

Prep Time: 10 minutes

NutriBullet time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 1 1/2 cup (335g) of roasted red pepper pesto

Cooking Utensils

NutriBullet
- You could also use a food processor or a blender
One spoon
Cheese grater
Frying pan

Ingredients

75g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
50g walnuts
2 tbsp harissa
- I used store-bought harissa
150g olive oil
1/2 cup (10g) basil
2 large roasted red peppers
- I used store-bought roasted red peppers
1-2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
1-2 tsp Chili flakes

Instructions

Begin cooking a pasta of your choice
1. Save some of the pasta water for later
Turn on a saucepan at low-medium heat
Briefly toast 50g walnuts until slightly browned
Place the walnuts in the NutriBullet, and blend until smooth
Place the rest of the ingredients listed above in NutriBullet (or food processor / blender)
Blend ingredients together
Use a spoon or a spatula to wipe down sides of NutriBullet and stir up contents
Blend again until all ingredients are smooth
Poor contents of pesto from NutriBullet into a separate bowl
Add pesto to freshly made pasta, and stir
1. I tend to add 75g pesta to 1 cup (200g) of freshly made pasta
2. If sauce is not “soft” enough to your liking, add some pasta water!
Potential toppings: salt, freshly shaved cheese, freshly squeezed lemon
Enjoy!