Vegan Pesto
Servings: 1 cup
- 1 clove of garlic
- ⅓ cup of (50 grams) walnuts
- 2 tablespoons of (20 grams) pine nuts
- 4 tablespoons of (15 grams) nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 2 packed cups of (50 grams) basil leaves
- ¼ cup of (60 grams) cold water
- ¼ cup of (50 grams) extra virgin olive oil
- Peel and cut 1 clove of garlic lengthwise, and remove its core, if any.
- Chop the garlic into small pieces and add it to a small food processor with ⅓ cup of walnuts, 2 tablespoons of pine nuts, 4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, and ½ teaspoon of salt.Blend for 1 minute or until the ingredients are reduced into coarse flour.
- Add 2 packed cups of basil leaves, ¼ cup of cold water, and ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil.
- Pulse a few times until the basil is finely minced, and you get a creamy green pesto.
- Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator in a bowl with a thin layer of olive oil on top to prevent it from turning dark. Alternatively, transfer into a small jar and freeze up to 6 months.Tip: never warm up basil pesto with direct heat. It'll change color and lose flavor.
- To use it with pasta, add pesto to a bowl, add ½ cup of pasta cooking water, and stir to dilute it. Reserve some more pasta water for later.Tip: remember to salt the pasta cooking water with a generous amount of salt before cooking the pasta.
- Drain pasta, add it to the bowl with the pesto and stir to combine. Add more reserved pasta water or more pesto if necessary.
Nutrition information is an estimate for the whole batch of vegan pesto.
VARIATIONS
You can make pesto with other herbs and vegetables. For more ideas, check out our "variations" chapter above.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Use vegan pesto as a sauce for pasta, dip for bread, spread in a wrap or sandwich, topping on pizza, and much more. Get more ideas from our "serving suggestions" chapter above.
MAKE AHEAD & STORAGE
Make ahead: you can make the pesto ahead of time, for example, when fresh basil is in season, then refrigerate it or freeze it to keep it fresh, bright, and flavorful.
Refrigerator: transfer the vegan pesto to a small jar, cover it with a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil, seal it, and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezer: Pesto freezes well for up to 6 months. Put it in a small jar or in ice cube trays to have smaller portions at hand.
Thawing depends on use: if you use it with pasta, throw it in a mixing bowl and melt it with ½ cup of pasta cooking water. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight if you use it as a spread.
