Who doesn't love pesto? This one gets dolloped on your pasta, as a chunky side dip or on toast, it turns up to any occasion.
Since we left Australia and have been isolating in Newcastle, UK, with the family, I've been filming and testing all my recipes that I've collected from travelling. The one recipe I just didn't have in my book was plant based pesto. So I developed one, trying it multiple times to get it right and created a concoction of ingredients to make the perfect chunky pesto.
It was the one thing I missed straight away when going plant based and honestly I cant believe I went this long without it. In some supermarkets, you can get vegan pesto, however it becomes costly when feeding a family and isn't as tasty as a simple homemade recipe.
So this healthier recipe has the same great taste, with half the ingredients, and it costs around £3 to make for a family of 5.
How to make chunky pesto...
Serves 5 Make time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
40g of fresh basil
125g of cashew nuts
2 shallots
1 bulb of garlic
100g of plant based cheese (optional)
4 tbsp of olive oil
salt and pepper
TIP: if you cant get hold of basil you can use these instead: spinach, the green tops from your fresh carrots, kale, coriander, parsley or peas.
1. Begin by finely chopping your shallots and the garlic and putting them into your blender. Next add in your basil, cashew nuts, plant based cheese and salt and pepper.
2. Blitz gently together until combined then add your 4 tbsp of olive oil. Pulse until smooth and creamy. If its a little too chunky for you (for me the chunkier the better) pop an extra couple of table spoons of olive oil in and blitz until completely smooth.
Hope you like this simple, protein packed pesto, that suits any dish you dollop it on.
G x