Homemade Vegan Pesto

Straight up plant-based pesto sauce to top your pasta any day.

Add any spices and herbs you like. Feel free to use 3/4 cup of sunflower seeds if pine nuts are not available (they’re so expensive!!!) Add any veggies you like, we had some fresh peas on hand so we threw those in. This sauce is gluten-free and soy-free.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups fresh basil leaves (packed lightly)

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

3 - 4 cloves garlic

4 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt (start with 1/4 tsp and add more if needed after blending)

1/4 tsp pepper

Juice from half a lemon

1/4 cup water

Optional + recommended:

2 tbsp fresh herbs (parsley, oregano, lemon thyme, etc.) dry herbs work too, use less.

METHOD:

1 - Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend, scraping down the sides as necessary, until smooth and well combined. This sauce is meant to be thick. If it’s feeling too thick, you can add 1-2 more tbsp of water.

2 - Cook your pasta and drain the water (do not rinse) allowing the pasta to remain a little sticky so the pesto sauce will stick to it.

3 - Pour pesto sauce over pasta and mix until well coated. Roll up those sleeves and dig in! We added fresh peas and topped it off with our homemade vegan parmesan (recipe on our site)

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You can make this sauce ahead of time and refrigerate in an airtight container/jar until ready to eat. If so, be sure to remove from the fridge ahead of time, allowing it to warm up so it’s not cold when you add to the cooked pasta.

Makes: 2 - 4 servings

Prep time: 15 - 20 minutes

Cook time: Pasta cook time

Store leftovers: Air-tight container, in the fridge

Lasts: 4 - 6 days