Pesto 2 Ways (dairy free)

By popular demand because it’s so tasty, Karen offers her pesto recipe below. Years ago we replaced Romano cheese with hemp hearts in our pesto and thought they were fantastic, so much so that we never looked back.

The nutritional yeast is a recent addition. When we prepared our daughter Lora’s pesto, we discovered its delicious taste along with outstanding nutritional value. We’ve begun adding it every time.

Lora also prepares a delicious dairy free pesto. The traditional pine nut is her favorite, but she often prepares a blend of half walnuts and half pine nuts. When she recently embarked on a nut free diet, she altered the recipe as you’ll see below. This is the recipe in the pictures.

Karen’s Pesto (Dairy Free)

Ingredients:
4 oz basil. This recipe was made with hydroponic basil which adds a sweetness. We also like Italian basil and, well, every kind of basil.
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1/2 cup raw organic cashews; our favorite nut, but we’ve tried many and like them all
1/3 cup organic olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 or more teaspoon nutritional yeast. It adds a wonderful “cheezy” flavor.

Blend hemp hearts in food processor. Add and blend the cashews with the hemp. Lastly, add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.

 

Lora’s Pesto (Diary Free and a Nut Free Option)

Ingredients:
4 oz basil
1/2 cup organic olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup pine nuts; Lora’s favorite nut, but she often blends with 1/2 walnuts or almonds
1 TB nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper
For a dairy free and nut free pesto, replace the pine nuts with half sunflower seeds and half hemp hearts.

Blend the garlic and nuts/seeds in food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.