Vegetarian Pesto Recipe
Freshly prepared fresh basil pesto made with vegetarian cheese - the texture of this pesto sauce is absolutely dreamy. A staple recipe worth mastering!
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp pine nuts
- 4-5 cups (75-100 g) basil leaves, or a combination of basil leaves and baby spinach, see notes
- ⅓ cup (45 g) parmesan or Italian hard cheese, grated
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 lemon, juiced
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) olive oil, you may want more, up to 1/2 cup
Instructions
- Toast your pine nuts. Heat a frying pan on a low heat, without any oil, and add the pine nuts for a minute or two, mixing regularly, until they're lightly browned and smelling toasty.
- Add the garlic, spinach and MOST (about 2/3rds) of the basil, pine nuts and cheese to your food processor or mini chopper. Add a few grinds of salt. Blend until finely chopped.
- Add the lemon juice and blend, slowly adding the oil to the mixture, until smooth.
- Now add the reserved basil, pine nuts and cheese into the food processor with the remaining oil. Pulse gently until these ingredients are incorporated into the pesto but in larger pieces. Add more oil if you think it needs it.
- Serve, tossed into pasta (don't add any heat - it will cook away the fresh basil taste!) If storing, add a small layer of olive oil to the top of the jar to preserve it in the fridge.
Calories: 258kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 6mg, Sodium: 136mg, Potassium: 167mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 1339IU, Vitamin C: 19mg, Calcium: 152mg, Iron: 2mg