Seriously though, I didn't have any hard Italian cheese in the house and I bought some nutritional yeast last weekend so thought that might suffice to flavour the pesto.
Getting wild garlic in the veg box this week was such a boon, partly because it's pretty rare unless you go forraging and partly because it signals a change in the weather and a welcoming back of the Spring.
To get a similar consistency to 'normal' pesto I used whole cashew nuts and walnuts, along with ground almonds in an attempt to mimic the texture of hard cheese.
I've been experimenting with bastardised pesto a lot recently, a semi wilting salad bag can be used when you might decide to throw it away if you have some nuts, oil, garlic and a food processor. Don't be bashful, i've put cream cheese in one of my batches and it was delicious. Definitely not a vegan.
This will be getting used in a lunch-box tomorrow, possibly with some pasta, maybe with some rice, when Squirrelface and I are at the BFI for the third day running enjoying a full day of films at BFI Flare.
Wild Garlic Vegan Pesto
40g wild garlic
40g mixed nuts
1tbsp ground almonds
2tbsp nutritional yeast
Oil (I used a mixture of walnut and olive)
Salt and pepper
Put all ingredients apart form oil and seasoning in a food processor. Process until paste like and drizzle in the oil until you have a pesto like consistency.
Scrape down the sides, season to taste and add more oil if too stiff.
Store in a jar in the fridge, but I dare you nto to use it immediately.
