Egg salad sandwiches are the perfect lunch when you have extra hard-boiled eggs. I love to add avocado and pesto to my lemony egg salad sandwich recipe to make it extra special.

I love plain hard-boiled eggs as a quick lunchtime snack, but when I have a little extra time, this is my go-to egg salad recipe.

You can absolutely eat it right from the bowl, or sandwich it with some homemade basil walnut pesto (recipe below) sliced avocado, and leafy greens between two slices of bread for a more hearty lunch.

Lemony Egg Salad Sandwiches with Basil Walnut Pesto and Avocado

Makes 2 sandwiches.

4 hard cooked eggs, cooled and peeled

1/4 cup mayonnaise (homemade or store bought)

Juice from half a lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

Zest from half a lemon (about 1/2 tablespoon), reserve some for garnish

1/4 cup diced celery

1 tablespoon sliced scallions

4 slices of bread (I like to use whole wheat or multi-grain)

Basil walnut pesto

Avocado, thinly sliced

Leafy greens (such as spinach, lettuce, or chard)

Fresh dill for garnish

Kosher salt

White pepper

In a medium bowl, mash the eggs into chunks using a fork or pastry blender. Stir in the mayonnaise, lemon juice, zest, celery and scallions. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spread two slices of the bread with some walnut pesto, top with a few slices of avocado and leafy greens. Pile high with the egg salad, then finish your sandwiches off with the top slice of bread.

Makes 2 servings.

Basil Walnut Pesto

Traditional pesto uses pine nuts, which is something I don’t usually have on hand, so instead I like to sub in walnuts.

If you can find walnut oil, you can use that for an extra kick of nutty goodness, otherwise go with olive oil, which is what the classic recipe calls for anyway.

The nice thing about pesto is that you can use almost any herb and oil combination you like. It’s very forgiving that way.

2 cups fresh basil leaves

3 to 4 garlic cloves

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 to 3/4 cup roasted walnut oil (or olive oil)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

In a food processor, pulse the basil, garlic and walnuts to combine. With the food processor running, slowly drizzle in the oil.

Add the cheese and salt and pulse until your pesto is fairly smooth and the consistency you want, then season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

Use immediately or cover the pesto with plastic wrap to prevent discoloring on the top and refrigerate any leftovers. Use within 3 to 5 days or you can freeze your pesto in ice cube trays for longer storage.

Makes about 2 cups.