#vegetarian cooking
Disclaimer: This recipe might no accessible for everyone, depending on what things cost where you are, or how easily things grow, but hopefully it can spread far and wide.
Uses: I put it on toast, pita bread, tortilla chips, crackers, I use it as a pasta sauce, put it on pizzas instead of cheese, add a dollop to minestrone, it also goes nicely with salads and other antipasto type snacks.
Ingredients(for a batch that makes about four half litre jars full)
- A truly colossal amount of fresh basil. To give you an idea. I usually fill up four ten litre containers with basil from the garden.
- Kale or Spinach (optional) - this will dilute the flavour, but it can be a good filler to make more pesto overall.
- Garlic (preferably fresh) - You can use minced garlic but I find it has a different flavour. You want about half a bulb for a big batch, possibly more if you like garlic or the variety you have is milder.
- Brewers yeast, Savoury yeast, or Nutritional yeast - About a cup for a big batch. You could also try vegan parmesan if you want.
- Vegetable oil - About two cups, but you can adjust to get the consistency you want.
- Cashew nuts - Pinenuts, Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and similar are all good substitutes.
- Cumin seeds - About a teaspoon (optional but tasty)
- Celery seeds - A pinch (optional but tasty)
- Salt - About a tablespoon
- A cube of veggie stock (optional)
- Method
- Strip the leaves off the stalks. Thin and soft stalks are fine to go in the mix but the thicker harder stalks don’t add to the flavour and they ruin the texture. Any leaves that have gone gross should be thrown in the compost.
- Rinse the leaves in water, drain them in a sieve, gently pat them dry with paper towels or a tea towel and put them through the blender in batches with a bit of oil each time. You’re unlikely to be able to fit everything in the blender at once so transfer batches to a big bowl. Ideally you want everything to be blended down to very very small pieces.
- Add the salt, half the brewers yeast, half the garlic, the nuts/seeds, and the spices to the blender. Run them through the blender with a batch of basil, and transfer to the big bowl. When it’s all been blended, mix everything together with a spoon. Taste test and run more garlic and brewers yeast through the blender and add according to your tastes.
- Store in clean jars (I boil the jars and lids in a pot of water). Try to fill the jars up as high as you can and pour a little oil over the top before sealing. The top few millimetres in each jar will likely oxidise and turn dark once it’s been opened again, this shouldn’t affect the taste but you can just scrape that bit off before using.
- Two cups pasta (I had wholemeal so that’s what I used but any pasta will do, gluten free, noodle, penne, spirals, whatever)
- A cup of almond milk (any non dairy milk is fine)
- Three tablespoons of flour (I used wholemeal wheat, but you could use rice, oat, or cornflour to make it gluten free)
- Half a cup of brewers yeast (nutritional or savoury yeast would work too)
- A pinch of salt
- A block of firm tofu (seitan would work too if you prefer it)
- A big handful of fresh chives (you could use dried as well, but you’ll need to simmer the sauce for longer and possibly adjust the amount)
- White or Apple Cider vinegar (could be swapped for lemon juice)
- A cube of veggie stock (optional)
- A splash of soy sauce (optional)
- A pinch of cumin seeds (optional)
- A few tablespoons of oil (I like to use the oil from sundried tomatoes but any vegetable oil is fine)
- A handful of pumpkin seeds (optional, you could swap for other nuts/seeds if you wanted)
- A handful of sunflower seeds (optional, you could swap for other nuts/seeds if you wanted)
- Olives (optional)
- Sun dried tomatoes (optional)
- Spinach, Kale, whatever vegetables you have spare would do fine, broccoli and cauliflower go surprisingly well in pasta dishes.
- Put the pasta on to boil. Traditionally you’d add a pinch of salt and a splash of oil, but I don’t usually bother. If you’re using wholemeal pasta like I did it’ll take a little longer to cook.
- Usually with tofu you’re supposed to press it to get the moisture out, but I’m lazy. Years ago I discovered if you freeze tofu and then thaw it (if you’re in a hurry you can defrost it in hot water), it becomes a lot more like a sponge and you can just squeeze the moisture out without any trouble. Cut or crumble the tofu into chunks however you like it, and throw them a frying pan with the cumin seeds and a splash of oil. I use a non stick frying pan but you can do without (it’ll just take more stirring).
- Fry the tofu much the same way you would fry onions for a few minutes, then crumble the veggie stock over the top, then add around a third of the brewers yeast, and a splash of soy sauce. Keep stirring.
- After a few minutes, or as soon as the stock and yeast start to stick or form clumps, add a splash of vinegar, this helps to deglaze the pan and adds a sharpness to the flavour. Keep stirring.
- Now add any vegetables, seeds, olives, etc to the mix, except the chives and keep stirring till the vegetables are cooked. Chunkier vegetables will take longer.
- Now, you can mix up the sauce in the pan with everything else or you can mix it up separately. I find it’s easier separate but it means one more container or pot to clean.
- Mix a couple of tablespoons of oil with the flour, add a splash of soy sauce, and a splash of vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Stir into a thick paste. Slowly add the almond milk, stirring as you go. If the sauce is still thick, add some more milk.
- Now add the chives and if you haven’t already, add the sauce to the pan, then drain the pasta (which should be done by now) and add that too. Lower the heat and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes. If the sauce gets too thick in that time, add a bit more milk or even water. You’re looking for the flavour of the chives to spread out and mix with everything else. Add a bit more salt or vinegar if you think it needs it.
This mix should make enough to feed 2-4 people depending on how hungry they are. If you add a salad or bread or something it’ll stretch to six.
Making an asparagus and garden pea omelette with parsley, chilli and garlic
