Pesto Genovese

Growing up, I always loved helping my mother make pesto. Sitting cross-legged on the kitchen floor, stripping intoxicatingly fragrant basil leaves into an enormous bowl stands out as one of my earliest memories. That being said, I have never been a fan of actually eating pesto. Seeing all that beautiful basil drowned in garlic, olive oil, and cheese until you can barely get a whiff of it just breaks my heart. So when I went looking for a pesto recipe, I decided to just bastardize my own, making it heavy on the basil and light on everything else. Cashews are lovely for this because the sweet, creaminess enhances the basil, rather than masking it, and the lemon keeps it nice and light.

Pesto Genovese

makes 2 cups

2 cups fresh basil

3/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews

1/4 cup raw, unsalted walnuts

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 cloves garlic

3/4 cup nutritional yeast

Salt to taste

Food process all ingredients til creamy, adjusting to taste as desired!

This makes a sizable batch, but the olive oil means this is a happy camper in the fridge, and also freezes well.

Happy eating!