Cashew Basil Spirulina Pesto by Wholefood Chef Tracey Bennett

A refreshing summer snack just in time for #veganuary.

Tracey Bennett cooks up this delicious dairy free pesto, infused with VITUS Spirulina in her latest cooking video with VITUS. With over 65% protein, high sources of iron and other essential nutrients for a plant based diet, this summer morsel will be a sure fire hit.

Makes Approx. 2 Cups of Pesto

Takes 15 Minutes to Prepare & Blend

Dairy free pesto is a pleasure to make and oh-so-very-easy!  It’s versatile and delicious served with gluten-free breads, crackers of all descriptions, on roasted veggies, gluten-free pasta and on salads. This recipe makes enough for 1-2 meals, depending on your appetite and love of pesto, of course! It only takes about 5 minutes to make too – bonus!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup basil leaves

• 1 cup baby spinach leaves

• Generous 1/2 cup cashews (preferably soaked for creaminess)

• 2 tbsp. lemon juice (or juice of 1 - 2 lemons)

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1 - 2 garlic cloves

• 1/2 tsp. VITUS Spirulina Powder

• 2 heaped tbsp. nutritional yeast

• Black Pepper & Salt

• Extra basil or parsley (to garnish)

CHEF’S TIP:

Try this with pine nuts or Brazil nuts instead of cashews for a slightly different pesto flavour. You can also adjust the lemon and garlic quantities to suit your taste buds

METHOD:

1. Simply blitz it all together in your food processor! If your food processor is a little underpowered, feel free to process the cashews for 30 seconds prior to adding remaining ingredients – this just allows them to grind down and avoids over-processing the other ingredients.

2. Keep in the fridge and serve with crackers, home-made bread, with gluten-free pasta or dolloped over oven roast veggies.

3. Delicious and super-easy! Last 2-3 days in the fridge.