I fell in love with this the first time I made it and I’ve been experimenting with the flavours ever since!  I wanted to create something to pep up a piece of roasted salmon and vegetables and this does it perfectly.  It has a subtle warmth from the chilli balanced with the fragrance of the herbs, it not only tastes good but smells amazing too!  I’ve tried the Thai Pesto with steamed courgette noodles and sautéed prawns, stir fried courgette and carrot noodles with mushrooms and its also perfect with a piece of grilled chicken, simply stirred into some pasta or spooned on top of some rustic tomato soup.  The uses really are endless.  Adding spinach to the pesto also helps increase your vegetable intake and as its raw you really get all the goodness from it!  So simple I promise it only takes about 10mins to make!  This works really well in a food processor but if you’ve got a nutri bullet or similar you’ll have it whizzed together in a flash, just add the oil and lime juice with the herbs and seeds.  Unlike regular basil pesto it doesn’t contain Parmesan cheese so is dairy free too.

2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

4cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1 mild green chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped

25g bunch fresh basil

25g bunch fresh coriander

50g baby spinach leaves

50g pumpkin seeds

salt and pepper

juice of 2 limes,

about 4tbsp olive oil

Place the garlic, ginger and chilli in a food processor and blend until finely chopped.

Add the pumpkin seeds, herbs and spinach with salt and pepper and process until all the ingredients are finely chopped.

With the motor running add the lime juice and olive oil and blend all the ingredients together to form a loose paste scraping down the sides occasionally.  If the pesto is too thick add an extra splash of lime juice or ice cold water until you get the right consistency.

Store the pesto in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Thai Pesto with courgette noodles and prawns.  This is so delicious and so healthy it feels like a real treat, its become one of my favourite speedy midweek suppers!  See my post on Spiralized Vegetable Noodles.