Basil Pesto with Truffled Parmesan
Day 24: The pasta sauce is adapted from Raw Food by Elrica Palmcrantz and Irmela Lilja . I added a whole bunch of basil rather than one sprig. I had never thought pesto could ever work without Parmesan cheese, but it totally does. Plus, if I used it on vegetables or some kind of vegetable spaghetti or kelp noodles, it would be a raw dish. Craziness. Oh, one thing about this book is it doesn’t have an index. I have no idea why – get an index!
The Truffled Parmesan comes from Crazy Sexy Kitchen by Kris Carr. This is the second time I have made it. The first time, it would not dry, even though I had it in the dehydrator for, it seems like, a whole weekend! This time, I didn’t whizz it for so long in the food processor and turned the temperature up (but still officially raw) and it came out nice and crisp and delicious. For simplicity, I have put the recipe on it’s on page.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
1 bunch of basil leaves (the book suggests one sprig- up to you)
1 Tsp salt (book suggests 2)
Lemon Juice to taste.
Pasta of choice – I used brown rice pasta, this time.
Grind pine nuts in a high-powered blender.
Add the olive oil and pulse while periodically scraping the mixture from the sides.
Ad the basil leaves and pulse.
Season with salt and lemon juice. Lasts for a week in the fridge.
Okay – what I did was grind the pine nuts then add everything else. My Vitamix could handle it, and I pushed everything into the blades with the tamper.
Cook pasta according to the package. Once cooked, drain, return to warm pan, add the pesto sauce. Serve with Truffled Parmesan.
Update: I have discovered that less olive oil is better. Start with 1/4 cup and go from there, according to your taste. Enjoy! Oh, you can also freeze this, and use it when you desire that summery basil taste in the middle of winter.