A couple of weekends ago, I plant sat for a friend, who gifted me some basil to take home. That was a couple of months ago, which was used in at least a few recipes before I ran out. The first picture is of me with the original stalk of basil! Big and tall, am I right? 😂
What else do you do with that much basil besides making all the non-dairy classic pesto that your food processor can handle? I promise it’s delicious, and there are only about five ingredients in the blender. Jamie and I started up our garden this spring. We’ve been out of basil for a while, but you can make this recipe at home whenever you like!
The layer of oil on top preserves it and prevents it from going bad. Our blog here has more pictures and tips on how to make our pesto.
Non-Dairy Classic Pesto
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup Basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 3 Garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp Pine nuts, toasted in a pan over low heat until golden brown (stir often)
- 2 tbsp Violife's Just Like Parmesan, Pecorino Romano or Manchego cheese (both are sheep's cheese), finely grated
- 0.5 tsp Salt
- 0.5 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
- 0.5 cup Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp Lemon juice
Instructions
- Place chopped basil in a food processor with salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice, and about 1/4 cup of olive oil (to start) and pulse until very finely chopped and the herbs are completely incorporated together.
- Lightly toast pine nuts for a few minutes in a pan with 1 tbs. of olive oil over low heat, just until they start to turn golden brown. Stir often to make sure they don’t stick!
- Add pine nuts to the food processor as well, pulsing to combine and break them down until they are about the same size as the rest of the ingredients. If you like your pesto a little chunkier, pulse a few times less (about 2-7 times).
- Add in the remaining oil and cheese, and pulse until just combined. If you are going to reserve the pesto for another time, store in an airtight container with olive oil covering the level of the pesto, you can freeze it too!