By Kathypatalsky
I’ve been making Vegan Walnut Pesto Sauce for a while now and I’m constantly tweaking the recipe to try new ingredients and flavors. My favorite unique flavorful vegan ingredients to add are: nutritional yeast, white miso, a handful of flat leaf parsley and some spice from a jalapeño – optional. I used to prefer pine nuts as the ‘nutty’ ingredient. But walnuts (my new go-to pesto nut) offer a super healthy alternative and they are less expensive than pine nuts. Walnuts are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, copper, manganese, folate, iron, B vitamins and more. Add in some vibrant leafy basil and you have a quite healthy pesto sauce worthy to drizzle over wraps, spread into pitas, toss with veggies or pasta and many more uses. Try my simple Vegan Pesto Sauce!..
Try Pesto on:
* Sandwiches
* Pasta
* Roasted Veggies
* Thin out with water for a flavorful salad dressing
* Drizzle inside pitas or wraps
* Keep thick for a dip consistency
More Walnut Recipe:
Roasted Winter Vegetables with Walnut Vinaigrette
Potato, Leek and California Walnut Gratin
Vegan Walnut Pesto Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 cups fresh basil leaves
- handful of italian flat leaf parsley (optional)
- 2 cups walnuts
- 1/2 cup olive oil or grape seed oil
- 1 Tbsp white miso paste
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice + a pinch of lemon zest
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- salt/pepper to taste (try truffle salt if you have some!)
- 1 small jalapeño, optional
as needed to thin out: warm water (or drained pasta water if boiling pasta)
* I added about 1/2 cup pasta water to this pesto to give it a nice sauce-like texture as opposed to a thick chunky texture
To Make:
1. Add all ingredients in a blender or food processor.
2. Puree until smooth.
3. Add water until thinned out to desired consistency.
Use: pasta, sandwiches, wraps, over breakfast plates, dip.
Food , Recipes
