This easy cashew pesto takes only 5 minutes to make and can be used in so many ways. Toss it with pasta, add it to a soup, spread it on a sandwich – the possibilities are endless. Made with fresh basil, cashews, garlic and parmesan, this pesto adds amazing fresh flavour to any meal!
Add the basil, parmesan cheese, cashews, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper to the food processor, and blend until a paste starts to form.
While the food processor is running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until ingredients are well combined. Scrape down the sides as you go, if necessary.
Adjust seasoning and consistency, if desired (see notes below). Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator and eat within a week. See post for freezing instructions.
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Notes
How to adjust the consistency: The recipe as written makes more of a paste consistency. If you prefer a runnier pesto, add one tablespoon of water at a time to the food processor, until you reach your desired consistency.How to make it vegan: if you need a vegan option, replace the parmesan cheese with three to four tablespoons of nutritional yeast. You may also want to increase the salt a bit, because the parmesan added quite a bit of salty flavour.How to adjust the flavours: if you need more overall flavour, add salt. If you find the garlic flavour a bit strong, I find adding a bit more lemon can offset the "bite" of the garlic. And if you want more bite and want to ward off vampires (ha!), add another garlic clove.