A recent diagnosis involving the words “lactose” and “intolerance” struck fear into the hearts of the eaters and cookers here at POD.
And the gardeners.
See all this lovely basil? Ordinarily it would get chopped into a luscious Parmesan-rich pesto. But Parmesan-rich isn’t the greatest thing right now, even with its relatively modest lactose count. (And we’re trying to save those handy pills for things like, you know, ice cream. And cheese dinners.) ‘Cause ya’ know what? It’s kinda’ nice not to be tooty and stuff all time. Seriously.
Before traipsing too far down that unpleasant path, let’s get back to the basil in question. Thanks to an enterprising and totally amazing Endurer, vegan pesto has entered the world of POD.
Never thought the day would come.
And while something so appetizingly named “nutritional yeast” hammered that fear in good and deep, this recipe, adapted from Food 52, actually worked pretty well. Yeah, you’ll notice that it’s dairy free, despite the recipe’s promise, but you’ll still enjoy it. POD promises.
Vegan Pesto
Makes 1 generous cup
- 2 cups tightly packed fresh basil
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 2-3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (to taste)
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste (you’ll need more of both than your instincts would have you add)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- Use a mezzaluna to coarsely chop the basil, garlic, and pine nuts.
- Put the chopped basil, garlic, pine nuts, and the remaining ingredients into a bowl and use an immersion blender until you’ve achieved your desired consistency. (Nope, it’s not a terribly traditional recipe, but whatevs, it works.)
Plants On Deck 
It’s also great without the nutritional yeast; toasting the pine nuts beforehand adds a rad little somethin’ somethin’ 🙂
Vegan pesto is awesome! Parmesan really just hides the bright taste of the basil and the creaminess of the pine nuts.