When I went vegan almost five months ago, one of the few things I mourned, for about a minute, was pesto. I thought, without parmesan cheese, I could never have pesto again. Turns out I was wrong. You can veganize anything. About to dive into my homemade pesto.
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- After chopping off the ends of the stems, I use a scissors to trim off any dark, wilted edges.
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- Perty!
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- Creamy goodness.
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- Adding the nutritional yeast, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, (and cayenne if you like a little extra heat) to taste.
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- Ready to add it into the pasta!
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- My most recent batch April 2017
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- My most recent batch April 2017
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- Summer dining ‘al fresco’ in the backyard.
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- Store your extra pesto n the freezer. I label them because I *will* forget.
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- For that extra carb and fat experience, piping hot panini roll with Myokos butter and Himalayan salt – delish!
Ingredients
- 2 large avocados or 3 small ones
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 cup pine raw nuts (I used pre-roasted and it was fine)
- 2 bunches fresh basil
- 1 cup nutritional yeast (I like a lot for that cheezy flavor so start out with 1/2 cup and add more to taste) This stuff is packed with vitamin B12 which is essential to supplement for plant-based diets.
- 1 package (lb) of whatever pasta you like. I usually use brown rice or vegetable fusilli, but use what you like.
Instructions
In a food processor drop in garlic cloves, pour in lemon juice, pour in pine nuts, scoop in avocados, add the fresh basil and process at high speed until creamy looking.
Open lid and scrape sides with a rubber spatula to make sure it all gets blended in. Add nutritional yeast, sea salt and fresh pepper to taste. Sprinkle in cayenne if you like it hot, but do so gingerly and you can always keep tapping in more, to taste.
*Recipe based on the one from Mercy for Animals, a fantastic organization that does so much for our non-human earthlings.
Be daring and veganize your favorite old classics.
Dani
