MANILA, Philippines — You love pesto-based sauces for your pasta dish, but you find it tedious and expensive to make pesto sauce at home because you do not grow your own basil plants.
Well, here is a way to make pesto that requires fewer basil leaves but packs in double the flavor and nutrients.
Related Stories
Sekaya Raw Actives, a convenient line of nutrient-dense and plant-based superfood powders that enhance daily performance, energy and mood, suggested using its Daily Greens that has phytonutrients equivalent to 50 leaves of spinach and kale.
It can be used to make Plant-Based Pesto by blitzing it with nuts, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil for your pasta’s pesto sauce. For more flavor and health benefits, make sure to add your basil leaves, which act as an adaptogen that helps the body manage stress and maintain balance.
Plant-based Pesto Pasta
INGREDIENTS:
For the sauce:
1 scoop/5 grams Sekaya Raw Actives Daily Greens
2 cups packed fresh basil, large stems removed
3 tbsps. pine nuts, walnuts or cashew nuts
3 large cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsps. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
3-4 tbsps. nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp. sea salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tbsps. extra virgin olive oil
For the pasta:
150 grams pasta
1/2 pc. white onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup sliced shiitake or button mushrooms
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1/4 cup black olives
PROCEDURE:
1. Boil your choice of pasta or cook according to package instructions.
2. Blend nuts with salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, basil, extra virgin olive oil and Daily Greens. Adjust the seasoning according to preference.
3. Sauté onion, garlic and mushrooms. Add sundried tomatoes and black olives.
4. Serve the pasta with the pesto sauce and the sautéed ingredients. Top with plant-based Parmesan cheese and fresh basil leaves.
RELATED: Recipe: Vigan Longganisa Lasagna, pasta with a Pinoy twist