Cashew Basil Pesto makes a great (and cheaper!) alternative to traditional basil pesto, replacing pine nuts with cashews.
It's no secret that I love basil in all forms, so today I am sharing with you my recipe for Cashew Basil Pesto. Usually basil pesto would be made with pine nuts, but cashews make a great alternative. They are also a lot cheaper than pine nuts here in Australia!
Made in basically the same way as traditional pesto with fresh garlic and parmesan cheese we are just going to substitute cashew nuts for pine nuts.
Ingredients you will need for this recipe
- fresh basil leaves
- unsalted cashews
- fresh parmesan cheese
- garlic cloves
- olive oil
- salt
- fresh lemon juice
*Please see the recipe card below for exact quantities and detailed instructions
How to make this recipe
- Place parmesan cheese (no need to grate) and garlic cloves in a food processor and process until finely chopped.
- Add basil leaves and cashews and process.
- Then add olive oil and process until combined.
- Add salt and lemon juice to taste.
My top tips for making this recipe
- This recipe may have a little less oil than you are used to seeing in other recipes for pesto, but I like to keep my pesto on the thicker side - good for spreading/dolloping etc. This also means that I can just mix some of the cashew basil pesto with more olive oil when I need a more liquid consistency for drizzling/dressings etc. You can always add more oil, but you can't take it out!
- This is a recipe where I remove the centre "core" from the fresh garlic cloves, which will give you a more mellow garlic taste. For more information on when and how to core garlic cloves, see this post.
Serving suggestions and recipes using pesto
- I like to use basil pesto as an alternative to the usual tomato based pizza base topping.
- Pesto makes a super fast and easy no-cook pasta sauce, just stir it through some just cooked pasta and use a splash of the pasta cooking water to loosen it up if you like.
- This lamb cutlet recipe is my favourite way to use basil pesto with lamb. An awesome taste combination!
- The fast and easy pesto crust on this oven baked salmon recipe makes this dish possible for a weeknight but also dinner party worthy.
Other pesto recipes you may enjoy
Rocket (arugula) Pesto - a fresh and vibrant pesto made with rocket. With pine nuts, parmesan cheese and a zing of lemon.
Classic Basil Pesto - green basil pesto - so easy to make and so versatile.
Cashew Basil Pesto
Ingredients
- 1½ cups fresh basil leaves firmly packed
- 70 g unsalted cashews approx ½ cup
- 50 g fresh parmesan cheese no need to grate
- 2 fresh garlic cloves cores removed (see my notes)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- salt to taste
- fresh lemon juice to taste
Instructions
- Place parmesan cheese (50g - no need to grate) and fresh garlic cloves (2 - cores removed) in the bowl of a food processor.
- Process until finely chopped.
- Add basil leaves (1½ cups - firmly packed) and cashews (70g/approx ½ cup) and process until chopped.
- Add olive oil (¼ cup) and process until combined, then add salt and fresh lemon juice to taste.
Notes
- This recipe may have a little less oil than you are used to seeing in other recipes for pesto, but I like to keep my pesto on the thicker side - good for spreading/dolloping etc. This also means that I can just mix some of the cashew basil pesto with more olive oil when I need a more liquid consistency for drizzling/dressings etc. You can always add more oil, but you can't take it out!
- This is a recipe where I remove the centre "core" from the fresh garlic cloves, which will give you a more mellow garlic taste. For more information on when and how to core garlic cloves, see this post.
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