IF YOU THINK PESTO WITHOUT PARMESAN is destined to be lackluster, think again. This pesto is every bit as delicious as the traditional stuff, thanks to the flavor of nutritional yeast!
Pestos are a perfect way to dress up vegetables, grains, and pasta dishes, of course. You can use a wide array of greens as a base (including kale, sage, parsley, cilantro, and arugula) and almost any nuts or seeds you like (including hemp seeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, and macadamia nuts). The kale and pistachio recipe that follows is a good example. You can make double batches of pesto and freeze as needed; I sometimes like to freeze pesto in ice cube trays, pop a single cube out, and mix it directly into warm brown rice or quinoa pasta.
MAKES 1 GENEROUS CUP PESTO
2 cups tightly packed fresh basil
½ cup walnuts, raw or toasted
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1. Place the basil, walnuts, and garlic in a food processor fitted with the “S” blade. Pulse to combine, until the mixture is coarsely ground.
2. Turn the motor on and drizzle the olive oil in a thin stream. Add the sea salt, pepper, lemon, and nutritional yeast, and pulse a few more times to combine. This will keep for 5 days in the fridge or can be frozen as needed.