Vegan Basil Pesto

Yes, I know a foot of snow is expected to drop from the sky tonight but I still crave some pesto from time to time. M really enjoys the stuff and the little one needs something to pair with her non-stop intake of pasta products. I adapted a recipe from the Whole Foods Market Cookbook to suit M's vegan eating habits and he enjoyed it so I decided to make some today and freeze the leftovers.

Vegan Basil Pesto
Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley or 1 TB dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
  
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 3-4 TB ground cashews (optional)

Place the first 7 ingredients (up to pine nuts) into the food processor and pulse for a few minutes until well blended. Scrape down sides as necessary. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the nutritional yeast flakes and, if desired, the ground cashews.

I am attempting to freeze this now so we shall see how it does. When I make it with parmesan cheese it freezes fine, so I am hopeful that it will make it until M gets home from his trip.

On another note, while looking for a photo to (steal) "share" from fellow bloggers, I found a recipe for "Chickpea Ravioli with Basil Pesto" compliments of Cooking Light. Yummy...I think I will see if I can make something similar and, NO, I did not "share" their picture.