I celebrated my birthday earlier this month, and my boyfriend got me a Cuisinart 4-Cup Mini-Prep Plus Processor. I finally can make homemade sauces, salad dressings, marinades, hummus, and much more! I'd been waiting to receive the processor from an acquaintance who got us an awesome discount on the product. I knew the first thing I was going to make as soon as I got it was pesto! Vegan pesto is hard to find premade at health food stores, and if it is premade it is usually quite costly. Plus, fresh pesto is much better!
Vegan Pesto
(modified from Cuisinart 4-Cup Mini-Prep Plus Processor Recipe Booklet)
"It is a favorite for dressing pasta but is also wonderful on boiled or steamed potatoes, steamed fresh vegetables, or as a spread on a fresh tomato and mozzarella sandwich. You may vary your pesto by using other herbs such as cilantro, mint or parsley and by using other nuts such as almonds, pecans or hazelnuts."
Makes enough for 4-6 servings on pasta
- 2 cups nutritional yeast
- 1 cup toasted pine nuts or walnuts (heat in non-stick pan on medium until golden brown to toast)
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups (packed) fresh basil leaves, washed and dried completely
- 2⁄3 cups extra virgin olive oil
Place the nutritional yeast in a bowl and set aside. Add the nuts to the work bowl and pulse on chop 5 times; remove and place in bowl with nutritional yeast. Add the garlic and salt to the work bowl and process 5 seconds on chop; scrape the bottom and sides of the work bowl. Add the basil leaves and half the olive oil. Pulse on grind 10 times, then grind continuously for about 15 seconds. Scrape the work bowl. With the machine running on grind, add the remaining oil slowly, in a steady stream, through one of the holes in the recessed area of the lid. After all the oil has been added, process on grind for an additional 10 seconds. Add the reserved nutritional yeast and nuts to the mixture. Pulse 10 times on chop to blend. You may need to stir and add a little bit of olive oil if the nutritional yeast is not completely blending. Let the pesto sit for 30 minutes or longer to allow the flavors to develop. Pesto sauce will keep refrigerated for up to a week, or may be frozen. Transfer the sauce to an airtight container.
For the Vegan Pesto Fettuccine meal I used Organic Fettuccine - Whole Foods Brand. I also mixed in some finely diced sauteed zucchini and broccollini into the pesto sauce before serving. Then I served the pasta with a mixed green salad dressed with Follow Your Heart vegan caeser dressing (which I also purchased at Whole Foods).
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