Food Network Magazine’s Lemon Zucchini Pesto

I have been looking for some foodie inspiration lately for summer dishes and so I turned to Food Network Magazine.

Look at that ice cream cake on the cover of the July/August 2016 issue! How could I resist?

The Inspiration

The best part of purchasing the magazine was discovering the 50 Pestos insert that was inside. Summer is the best time for pestos because it is an uncooked sauce that is super tasty made with herbs, garlic, nuts, olive oil and cheese. Yum!

The Recipe

I loved the idea of making pesto with zucchini and lemon so I dove into this recipe which was No. 48 on the list:

Puree 1 small chopped zucchini, 1 cup fresh mint, 1/3 cup toasted blanched hazelnuts, 1 garlic clove, grated zest of 1 lemon, juice of 2 lemons and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. 

With machine running gradually add 1/2 cup olive oil. 

I was a little concerned that it was a little watery. 

Maybe the 1/2 cup grated Parmesan would help?

Can’t forget the Parm!

Foodie Results

I tossed some bowtie pasta and grilled chicken Italian sausages with the pesto.

Quite tasty! And with that mint and lemon zing. I was worried that would be too odd a combo but I was surprised at how balanced it was.

Did I like it as much as the traditional basil pesto? No, but I liked it more than I thought I would and had it for lunch a couple of days. Not a bad start! More pestos to come…