Well, I am squeaking this one in, but I didn't want to leave this month without an entry.
This is a very quick recipe to put together; so here we go!
One of my favorite pestos used to be the Genovese style, which is surprising because I adore pine nuts and the Genovese style uses cashew nuts (I really do love cashews too, though). Being a vegan and not being able to enjoy the traditional pestos due to their cheese components; that salty complex tanginess was missing from the pestos; when I just used the straight up herbs, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.
So, nutritional yeast, stepped into the picture and brought back that complex salty taste that comes from cheese. I wouldn't say that it's an exact match, but it sure does taste good and work well with the other ingredients. At my local store it sells for 8.99 lb, but I never buy a full pound; so it doesn't cost that much in the end and you don't need tons in this recipe; so go ahead and get a tiny bit; you won't be disappointed.
Jessified, Vegan and Gluten Free Cilantro and Parsley Pesto
1 Handful of Cilantro (stems and leaves)
1 Handful of Parsley (leaves only)
1-2 Tb of Raw Sunflower Seeds
1-3 Cloves of Garlic, chopped
1 Tb of Nutritional Yeast
3Tb of Olive Oil
3 Tb of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
Dash of Himalayan Pink Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste
Method:
Put all of the ingredients together in the machine of your choosing, a food processor, blender or what I currently use a nutribullet. Let it pulse a few times before letting it run until almost smooth. If you find that you need more liquid a few dashes of filtered water, will help it run smoothly. You don't want to process it until completely smooth because you want some texture to the pesto.
 |
| This was a version that I mixed with Italian Fusilli and sauteed Chinese Sher li Hon. Super delicious together =) |
You can use this for pasta, but of course you can eat it with just about anything you can think of. Spread it on crackers, toasted bread, dip veggies in it, mix it in with some hummus to make an awesome pesto hummus, use it to marinate, facial mask.... oh well, maybe not the last one. It's a bit garlicky for that application ;p
I hope that you enjoy this easy pesto recipe. I make extra batches of it and keep it in a glass jar in the fridge, always making sure that I put enough oil on the surface to protect the pesto. It will keep for about 2 weeks; if you store it in the coldest spot in the fridge and do the aformentioned oil 'trick.' Although, it may not last even two weeks; if you decide to experiment with a bunch of different applications =)
I hope that this March, hasn't been too 'mad,' for you all and hope that April, will bring us better weather and even more good things into our lives.
Happy Cooking!
Love,
Jessica
