PERFECT PESTO - VEGAN

INGREDIENTS

Basil - 3 cups fresh leaves (compressed)

Peanuts or any other kind of nut - 1 cup

Garlic - 10 cloves

Lemon Juice - ¼ cup

Olive or Peanut Oil - ¼ cup

1/3 cup olive oil

Salt - 1 teaspoon

Black Pepper - 1 teaspoon

Nutritional Yeast - 2/3 cup

DIRECTIONS

Wash the basil, pull the leaves off the stem and measure by pressing firmly down into a measuring cup.  Based on how many cups you have, you can adjust the rest of the ingredients.

In a food processor, grind the nuts and garlic.  Add Lemon Juice, Oil, Salt and Pepper and process until smooth.

Add the Basil leaves and process until smooth, one cup at a time.  Scrape down the sides of the food processor, add Nutritional Yeast and process until smooth.

Taste and correct seasoning as desired.  Scrape down the sides of the food processor and process until smooth.

Serve over pasta, tossed with steamed green beans or as a dip

Store in bags or containers, drizzle olive oil over the top and freeze or keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Notes:

Makes 2 cups - eight 3-tablespoon servings or a dozen 2-tablespoon servings

This pesto is rather thick.  To thin for serving, add a little of the water that the pasta was boiled and/or more oil.

For Perfect Cilantro Pesto, use peanut oil and peanuts.  This also freezes well.

I prefer roasted, salted nuts.  If using unsalted nuts, you may want to add more salt.

You can freeze pesto into 2 tablespoon cubes using an ice cube tray.  After they are solid, store the cubes in freezer bags.

Camille 7/4/10