Vegan pesto

The most popular green pesto, Pesto alla Genovese, is a sauce originating in Genoa, the capital of the Italian region of Liguria. The name comes from the Genoese (dialect) verb pestâ meaning to pound. Other regional and national versions exist, including Pistou (Provence, France – no cheese or pine nuts), Pesto alla Siciliana (Silicy – red), and Pesto alla Calabrese (Spanish – grilled red peppers).

 

Classic pesto contains basil, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic and olive, all pounded together to make the sauce. I love pesto; it’s one of my all-time favourite flavours, and I could eat a bowl of spaghetti with pesto several times a week. I’ve road-tested many different brands of pesto, from supermarket own-brand to genuine Italian, and my favourite commercial brand is Sacla. Fortunately it is available here, in several different varieties.

 

Given that it only takes 15 minutes and a small food processor to make pesto it’s surprising that I rarely make it. Probably because basil is both difficult to grow and buy fresh here. But pesto can be made from lots of other ingredients  and both with and without cheese, so I searched out a suitable vegan recipe. It was so simple to make – just put all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz until the required texture.

I recently found a great recipe for Mint Pesto and incorporated this into a new recipe for Stuffed Mushrooms and Couscous.