The other day I scratched up some Cashew Spinach Basil Pesto using fresh basil and spinach from the garden. As your double bonus Sunday Scratchup recipe today, let me present the Dairy Free Cashew Spinach Basil Pesto variation for those of you with dairy allergies.
This dairy free pesto substitutes Kalamata olives for the Parmesan cheese in the original version, providing the same kind of salty richness in a non-dairy pesto. You’ll want to cut down on your oil when using olives, though, because they’ll release their own when blended into the pesto — so the proportions here are also slightly different than in the original version.
Both versions are chock full of salty garlicky goodness, and both made excellent Pesto Portobello Pizzas.
Dairy Free Junior High Guy chose to top his Pesto Portobello Pizza with pepperoni and jarred jalapeño slices, and the cashews and olives in the pesto added enough salty richness that you don’t really miss the cheese.
Dairy Free Cashew Spinach Basil Pesto
Ingredients
1 cup torn up fresh spinach
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp torn up fresh basil
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp roasted salted cashews
1/2 tsp minced garlic
6 pitted Kalamata olives
Juice from one slice of lemon
sea salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
crushed red pepper, to taste
Directions
Add all ingredients to food processor and blend until smooth. That’s it — you now have dairy free pesto! (You might want to wait to add salt until the end, since both the olives and the cashews add saltiness to the recipe and it’s easy to overdo it.)
Dairy Free Junior High Guy really enjoyed Dairy Free Pesto on his pizza and then went after the leftovers the next day with a spoon — so I think that this qualifies as a hit. There’s only a hint of spinach flavor in the finished version, so Dairy Free Cashew Spinach Basil Pesto can also be a great way to sneak some veggies into the pickier members of your family.
Looking for the original dairy filled version?
Dairy Version — With Parmesan Cheese
The Parmesan version of this pesto comes out a more vibrant green, but they’re equally tasty. Check out the original dairy filled Cashew Spinach Basil Pesto here. And, freeze some of either recipe up to help preserve some of your summer garden bounty, if yours is producing as much basil and spinach right now as mine is! The easiest way to do this is to freeze your pesto in ice cube trays until solid, then pop out your pesto cubes and freeze them in freezer bags so that they’re easy to portion out for later use.
Easy print version
Dairy Free Cashew Spinach Basil Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 cup torn up fresh spinach
- 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp torn up fresh basil
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp roasted salted cashews
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 6 pitted Kalamata olives
- Juice from one slice of lemon
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- crushed red pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to food processor and blend until smooth.
- (You might want to wait to add salt until the end, since both the olives and the cashews add saltiness to the recipe and it's easy to overdo it.)