It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a recipe on the blog, but I’ve recently been experimenting with new flavours so thought it high time for an update.
But first, a little back story to fill you in about why I’m making beetroot pesto in the first place. I was one of those rash-prone kids who seemed to break out at the mere thought of something even mildly reactive. Eczema has been part of my body since before I even remember and I had learned to live with it. Every so often when I was under extra stress, ate too much of the wrong thing or was in a too dry/damp environment my eczema would flare up and I’d got so used to it I became very blase.
In June this year we moved house (around the corner from where we were living). We love our new place and the whole family is very happy here, but it’s that much closer to Cataract Gorge and it’s lovely dense trees plus is darker which means it is also damper. A very wet winter has contributed to this issue as well. On top of this added moisture I am getting towards the pointy end of my PhD studies and am feeling the pressure of a very big looming deadline. Moisture + stress = prime eczema conditions for me.
So I decided to finally do something about the eczema that has become so much a part of me, and read Karen Fischer’s The Eczema Diet. After reading through Karen’s research I started her diet at the beginning of September. I’m now at the point where I’m introducing potentially problematic foods every three days while sticking with mostly alkaline foods to keep my skin happy. Here’s where the beetroot comes into the equation. I’ve been looking at ways to use the limited ingredients I have right now and decided to make a beetroot pesto to have with pasta.
Beetroot Pesto
Ingredients
3 fresh beetroot (I bought mine at my local farmer’s market, Harvest Launceston)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/3 cup rice bran oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Sea salt flakes
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees. Peel the beetroot and chop into quarters. Peel the garlic cloves and cut in half. Put the beetroot and garlic pieces into a baking tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle with salt flakes and drizzle with some of the rice bran oil. Cook until the beetroot pieces soften (about 45-60 mins) and allow to cool slightly.
Put the cashews into your food processor and blitz until they form a coarse meal. Next add the beetroot and garlic with the rest of the oil and lemon juice. Pulse until you have a chunky pesto. Enjoy!
I mixed my pesto into freshly cooked spelt pasta (and it went pink!), but I think would also make a delicious dip for carrot and celery sticks or brown rice crackers.
