Vegan Pesto With Cashews
Cashew pesto is creamy rich and is vibrant.This simple pesto is made from fresh parsley and raw cashews.It is so versatile, it can be used in many things beyond pasta.This deep green vegan pesto is zesty and it lifts up your dishes in a hurry with fresh flavors.
Ingredients
For the pesto:
- Half cup cashew.
- Half bunch curly leaf parsley or Italian parsley (2 heaping cups).
- 1/2 cup extra virgin oilve oil.
- 2 cloves garlic (medium).
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
- 1/2 tsp sea salt.
- 1 whole lemon's juice.
Instructions
Instructions for making the pesto:
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Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend!.
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Choose a slower speed for a coarse pesto and stop occasionally to stir the mix from the bottom up to make sure even blending.
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The consistency of this pesto is adjusted by adding some water i.e. if you want a saucy pesto.Omit lemon juice if you want no tang in your pesto. I like this pesto with juice of a half lemon if I am making a creamy dairy based pasta dish. (more recipes to come!)
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I opted for a smooth pesto, which I like. Flavors are combined well this way and it coats the pasta better. This strictly is a personal preference.
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After you make your pesto add an additional table spoon or two of EVOO if you want to store your pesto for later. This helps it from drying out and keeps it fresh. In my humble opinion, this makes the pesto very pretty as well.
Recipe Notes
Notes:
- Any type of parsley can be used.
- Raw cashews are better than roasted cashews. But with other nuts like walnuts and almonds I find that roasting them before making pestos really add enhanced flavor to it.
- Lemon juice can be omitted from this recipe but I think adding 2 table spoons of lemon juice really balances out the flavors.
- Pestos made in a mortar and pestle are said to have much flavor. It takes much more effort and need to be made in small batches.
- High ratio of cashew in this version of vegan pesto replaces the need for cheese.