This week I decided to challenge myself and make a gluten free vegan pesto, that is also raw, with no cheese and no lactose whatsoever. After two essays, I got to one result that I did enjoy!
I chose the avocado as it replaces the cheese beautifully, it is so creamy. Then I put one courgette to add a more velvety, smooth feel to the sauce. I also put the juice of half a lemon to keep the sauce bright and green. The basil is a key ingredient to any pesto you will make: make sure you buy one that is nice and fresh. It will definitely enhance the result you are going to get. I chose to toast some pine nuts, instead of adding them in the mixture to leave the sauce fresh and lighter. The flowers on top make it nice to see and they are also good to eat 😉
Hope you’ll like! Happy Saturday!
INSTRUCTIONS
1
Wash very gently 60 leaves of fresh basil – medium size.
Peel one clove of fresh garlic.
Put the basil + the garlic + the avocado and the zucchini cut in small cubes + the extra virgin olive oil + half lemon juice + salt in a mixer and start mixing all the ingredients together.
I suggest to add 2 tbl spoons of water as well. It helped me get the consistency I was looking for the pesto: creamy and silky. However check to adjust it.
2
For the gluten free pasta I went for whole rice spaghetti from an Italian brand that I like very much – Felicia Organic- in Paris it is sold at Epicerie Générale. I like the whole rice, I think its taste and consistency marry nicely with this fresh pesto sauce.
To cook the pasta, put one large pot with a lot of water over medium heat.
When the water is about to boil, add the spaghetti and then a pinch of salt.
As a personal advice, don’t to trust the minutes written on the package to cook it, it is very rare that they correspond to how you like the pasta (al dente or not). I suggest to do it as I do, start tasting the pasta after the first 3/4 minutes… it helps 🙂
3
Once the pasta is ready, drip it and put it in a large bowl. Add the pesto sauce.
Serve the pasta with some toasted pine nuts and fresh flowers on top.
Buon Appetito!
Ingredients
Recipe for 2:
– 200 gr of whole rice spaghetti
– 60 leaves of basil (medium size)
– 1 clove of garlic
– 1 avocado
– 1 courgette (medium size)
– the juice of half an organic lemon
– 3 tbl spoons of extra virgin olive oil
– 2 tbl spoons of water, eventually
– salt
– toasted pine nuts
– flowers to decorate
Recipe by Chiara
