Kara Parnell
Servings:
4-6
Prep time:
00:10
By: Kara Parnell
My kids say a lot of funny things, like when my 5 year old announced, "fudge is my favourite vegetable!" My favourite kid quote to date has to be when my oldest daughter bought a beautiful bunch of fresh basil from our local farmer's market one Saturday afternoon, and holding that intoxicatingly fragrant bundle in her hands, determined, "I'll take a bunch of basil over a bouquet of roses any day!"
Fresh herbs have a way of enhancing any dish, making something ordinary taste truly extraordinary. This pesto uses my all time favourite herb, basil, as it's foundation. Combined with some other wonderfully intense flavours, like the Parmesan cheese, and garlic, pesto is a powerhouse of authentic Italian flavours!
This pesto is delicious mixed with warm pasta, or drizzled over beautiful sliced tomatoes, with a pinch of salt and pepper, or as a marinade for chicken. It's so addictingly flavourful, I'll take in a spoon, straight from the food processor!
Ingredients
- 2 C. fresh basil, firmly packed (any fresh greens you have. Can be a mix of coriander, spinach, kale, anything)
- 1/2 C. Walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds , pine nuts or a mix of all.
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast (or 1 C. Parmesan Cheese for non vegans)
- 2 garlic cloves
- salt to taste
- 1/2 C. olive oil
- Add a dash of water if need be and extra nutritional yeast to give it a more cheesy flavour
Instructions
- Add the basil, nuts, Parmesan, garlic and salt to a food processor, and pulse until ingredients are well combined and form a paste, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
- Turn the processor on low, and slowly drizzle in olive oil until combined.
