Sunday, March 1, 2009

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.

2 comments:

  1. Oh... looks wonderful. I should try it sometime. I am not a huge fan of parsley, but am sure I can make it without the parsley.

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  2. I hate parsley so I never add the fresh stuff but I have been adding dry and you don't taste it much but it adds another layer of flavor.

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