Vegan Beet Pesto
For Tender Fire Kitchen’s vegan pizza, they experimented with replacing the tomato sauce with creamy beet pesto and it’s so good that the pizza has been dubbed the “beetza” by their customers. It’s easy to make and can easily be turned into a dip or hummus. We make our pesto fresh every couple of days, but it will last up to a week refrigerated. We shop the ingredients fresh at the Santa Fe Farmers Market. This recipe feature’s items from Annie’s Herbs, Green Tractor Farm, and Paradox Farm.
Ingredients
- 5 medium beets
- ¼ cup of olive oil
- ½ to 1 whole lemon juiced
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 tablespoons of walnuts or pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
- 2 medium to large garlic cloves
Instructions
- Prep the beets by washing and cutting off the ends (Pro Tip: Leave a little root so the beets do not bleed too much). Put beets in glass baking tray half full of water and cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake at 425°F for about 2 hours depending on the size of the beets. Beets are ready when a fork goes through like butter.
- Once cooled, peel off beet skins and keep beet water.
- Put beets and all remaining ingredients in a blender. (Pro Tip: Blend while beets are still warm for extra creaminess).
- Blend until creamy and smooth. If pesto needs more liquid you can add the beet water, lemon, or olive oil.
- Taste and adjust.