Meatless Monday: Pesto Pasta

I am back with an easy peasy meatless meal idea to whip up in no time at all. This dish is so easy that I often forget about making it because I find myself over complicating dinner sometimes. When I have made Pesto pasta in the past I just used premade pesto sauce but this time I made my own using basil we grow in our at home indoor garden system.

My favorite jarred pesto sauce to use is Kirkland Basil Pesto. My youngest son follows a vegan diet so when I made this dinner I made a vegan pesto sauce and then added parmesan cheese for the rest of us.

For homemade pesto sauce

2 cups packed fresh basil 

3 Tbsp pine nuts

1 tsp garlic powder

2 Tbsp lemon juice

3-4 Tbsp nutritional yeast or parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp salt

2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I use avocado oil)

3-6 Tbsp water or as much needed to achieve the consistency you want.

Instructions

1. Add the basil, nuts, garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt to a food processor or blender and blend on high until a loose paste forms.
2. Add olive oil a little at a time. Then add 1 Tbsp water at a time until the desired consistency is reached. I like mine to be a bit on the oily side so it’s easier to mix into the pasta.
3. Adjust the flavor by adding more nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor or more nuts for nuttiness. I added more nutritional yeast. If you have leftovers it can be covered in the refrigerator up to 1 week.

If you have leftovers it can be covered in the refrigerator up to 1 week. If you make more you can freeze the pesto in ice cube molds for 1 month or more.

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Add the pesto to your favorite pasta and serve with your choice of vegetables!!

Of course I can’t leave this post without talking about something bookish so today I am talking about my mom’s handmade bookish sleeves and Norma’s bookmarkers. You can find their Etsy shop here and use SISTERS20 to get 20% off!!

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Before Norma starting making book markers I already had a few book markers in my collection and now that has really grown. I love to have options and find myself matching the book I am reading either to the saying or colors to the book marker. So when I saw this book marker holder in their Etsy shop I snatched it up. My mom made more so if you collect book markers this is a handy idea. She will custom make you one if you want a different fabric!