VeggieDag Thursday: (vegan) Pazzo Pesto!

This sweet basil from my garden (minus the entomological protein) became this...

Pazzo Pesto, vegan-style.

Pazzo Pesto is my take on the recipe by the Minimalist Baker. Truth be told, it's 99.99% Dana Shultz's recipe (although I did substitute veggie broth for the water). Nutritional yeast provides the cheesiness. It's the 'beery' connection in the recipe.

So why, pazzo? I blended it all before I realized that I had forgotten the garlic. Pazzo! (Ex post facto, I rectified the omission).

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups packed, rinsed fresh basil (large stems removed)
• 3 TBSP pine nuts
• 3 large cloves garlic (peeled)
• 2 TBSP lemon juice
• 3-4 TBSP nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt (or more or less to taste)
• 2-3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 3-6 TBSP water or veggie stock (less, or more, as needed)

PREPARATION

• Add the basil, nuts, garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and sea salt to a food processor (or, in my case, a small blender), and blend/mix on high until a loose paste forms.
• Add olive oil a little at a time and scrape down sides as needed. Then add water one tablespoon at a time until you get a thick but pourable sauce.
• Refrigerate, but...
• Even refrigerated, the pesto will quickly brown, losing its bright green luster. As Ms. Schultz suggests, freeze it an ice cube tray and then bag the frozen cubes for future use.

Start to finish, Pazzo Pesto will take you two months to prepare. Of course, once the basil has grown, only minutes. Resist the temptation to eat it with a spoon. Spoon it on pasta.

VeggieDag Thursday is an occasional Thursday post
on an animal-free diet and on environmental and ecological issues.

-----more-----

• Pazzo = crazy (Italian).
• Original recipe via the Minimalist Baker.


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