While busy like this or on the road, one of the things I really miss is cooking and eating. There is nothing like the food sold or served at conferences to make you long for a hearty, homecooked meal.Last week, my wonderful neighbor, Heather, handed me an armful of fresh basil leaves that she had just harvested from her garden. I love basil and I try to grow some every year, but somehow my plants are never as healthy as Heather's who has that enviable green thumb.
Thrilled beyond bits, I ran home and pulled out my food processor to mix up a batch of pesto with those fragrant leaves when, woe be, I realized I had no extra virgin olive oil on hand.
I had to wait a whole agonizing day before I could find the time to make a trip to the grocery store. The basil smelled like heaven, and so did the pesto. I added a half of a habanero pepper to it, which sounds unusual, but believe me, it really punched up the spice factor.
I also used mild miso as a cheese substitute. Miso, as I've written before, has wonderful health qualities and its texture, and salty taste, work beautifully as a proxy for parmesan which is usually a staple in pesto recipes. Trust me, you won't be able to tell the difference.
So here it is: pesto minus the cheese. I try to keep a batch in the refrigerator most of the time and use it as a quick sauce for pasta or even as a spread for a slice of crunchy toast.
Enjoy!
Vegan Pesto
Ingredients
About 3 cups of packed basil leaves
1/3 cup pine nuts
, lightly toasted3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 a green habanero pepper
3 tbsp mild-tasting miso
About 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
or more if you like your pesto runnyIn a food processor, combine all the ingredients except the olive oil.
With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the pesto is a granular paste with all the ingredients broken down.
And you're done!
Miso sounds like a brilliant substitute for cheese, so much healthier too! Pure Genius!
ReplyDeleteVaishali, this is one of my fav pasta sauce.I just love the smell of fresh basil.I love the substitute and sounds interesting.I will try my hands on miso.Great idea.
ReplyDeletelooks good..will sure try when i get basil leaves..
ReplyDeleteBeautiful green color, love the way it is vegan with substitute
ReplyDeleteThis pesto is beautiful, Vaishali. I've made pesto w/out cheese myself, not even substituting miso, and it was just as good, if not more sharply flavored w/ basil. Didn't miss the cheese at all.
ReplyDeletelooks healthy...love the way it is vegan with substitute
ReplyDeletei use miso as a lot nowadays and just love it. plus, it keeps forever in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteOh cool! I've only used nutritional yeast as a cheese sub. in pesto, but will try miso out next time.
ReplyDeleteGreat tip for subbing parmesan, but I usually make pesto without the cheese, and I love it that way. I do shower the pasta with cheese though. :-)
ReplyDeleteI just love the aroma of basil. No-cheese pesto sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteLooks heavenly! Great colour
ReplyDeleteWOW.....Great lovely color......Miso sounds like great substitute for cheese.....Will try sure......Thanks for sharing :)))
ReplyDeleteHoly cow was the first thing when i read the word no-cheese....seriously! Thats a superb substitution. And thanks a lot for sharing this recipe :)
ReplyDeleteA.
Hi
ReplyDeleteI am cooking without dairy because otherwise it gives my infant, whom I am nursing, really bad colic. I searched for a no-cheese pesto recipe and cooked your recipe last night. It was DELICIOUS. My guests really liked it, and my husband (who hates pesto) took seconds. Thanks! I will definitely try more of your recipes.
Hi Lia, Welcome and thanks for the feedback- so glad you liked the pesto recipe.
ReplyDeletethe miso was a *great* suggestion! i used a recipe calling for 3 parts basil, 1 part parsley, added a few macadamia nuts because i was low on pine nuts, and it was delicious! even my change-averse, cheeseaholic husband loved it. thanks so much for posting this!
ReplyDelete