This week, I’ve been trying to focus on making the most of whatever fresh ingredients I have leftover in my kitchen and trying to create recipes that can be frozen to help avoid any produce going to waste. My basil plant was looking a little bit sorry for itself, so the obvious solution to this was to make some fresh pesto.
This sauce is super creamy, packed with greens and can be frozen in an ice cube tray, ready to melt into your pasta for a decadent dinner in minutes! This is a great way to sneak in some additional greens into your dishes and preserve leftover fresh produce that might need using up.
Pesto is also a perfect staple sauce to have on hand in the fridge to jazz up and add a powerful flavour punch to your meals in a matter of minutes. Perfect for any occasion, pesto pasta is such a quick and simple meal to serve as either a main or side dish. It’s really inexpensive and both this sauce and of course pasta, can be stored for long periods of time; which is something that I’m trying to focus on with the foods I’m stocking my kitchen with at the moment.
I almost forgot to mention, this recipe is completely plant based, as I’ve replaced the traditional addition of parmesan cheese in the pesto with nutritional yeast. These cheesy tasting flakes might not look all that appealing, but honestly they’re one of my favourite kitchen cupboard staples for creating delicious savoury vegan recipes! They’re a great replacement for cheese when making sauces and non-dairy cheese alternatives and are also a good source of Vitamin B12.
Ingredients
- 1 whole avocado
- 1 handful chopped curly kale
- 2 heaped tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Water as needed
- Juice from half fresh lemon
- 1 cup oat milk
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Sprinkling mixed herbs
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 large handfuls fresh basil
- Serving:
- Pasta of choice
- Large handful frozen peas
Instructions
- Start by combining all of the ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender, leaving the milk and water aside and start to blend everything together.
- Gradually drizzle in a little water to help the mixture blend and continue until you’re left with a smooth and creamy consistency.
- Transfer this to a saucepan over a low heat, then gradually whisk through some of the oat milk to thin the mixture slightly and make the sauce extra creamy! (add as much or little as needed depending on how thick you’d like the sauce)
- Store this in an airtight container tin the fridge or pour into any ice cube tray to freeze for easy pasta sauce portions.
- To serve, cook 2 servings of your favourite pasta, stir in some frozen peas then add 2 heaped tbsp of the sauce and mix through.