Vegan Pesto

When I first made this recipe I was sure I was going to have to replace the cheese with some other ingredient like nutritional yeast. However, I tried it and realized that by taking out the cheese you really taste the fresh basil! I found that I didn’t miss the cheese at all. This sauce is great over your favorite pasta, gnocchi or steamed vegetables.

Makes: 1 cup

Preparation time: 5m
Cooking time: 5m
Total time: 5m

Ingredients:

  • 2-3 cups fresh basil (packed)
  • 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/2 cup pecans -

Equipment: blender

Instructions:

  1. Place the basil, lemon juice, olive oil and salt into a blender and blend on high until smooth.
  2. Add the pecans to the blender and blend until they reach desired consistency. Sometimes it's nice to have a smoother pesto and sometimes you want it chunkier.
  3. Use as a pizza sauce, bread stick dipping sauce, or over gnocchi and veggies in my recipe Pestoed Veggies and Gnocchi