Many times, before cooking something, I like to first visualize the dish. I look at the ingredients and “picture” how they would all fit together to create a recipe. Well, some weeks ago, I was wandering around the kitchen to check what to prepare for dinner before a long trip away from home. Usually, when leaving the apartment for weeks, I don’t like to keep any food around that could go to waste. At that particular night, I had in my fridge a half package (opened) of silken tofu, some basil leaves and a few other veggies. In my freeze, I found a package of frozen peas.
Well, looking at the tofu, peas and basil leaves I literally started to visualize a creamy pesto sauce,from blending together green peas, silken tofu, garlic, basil leaves and some nutritional yeast. So, I gave it a try, and guys, it turns out so tasty, creamy, and green that even my husband who is not a huge fan of pesto loved that version.
- 2 cups of any pasta you like (I use a whole wheat penne pasta)
- 1 cup (340 ml) of frozen or fresh green peas
- 1/2 cup of silken tofu (alternatively you can use cashews)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup of basil leaves
- 2 tbs of nutritional yeast
- salt to taste
- Steps in the pictures bellow
- Heat a 1 tbs of olive oil in a skillet. Add the two cloves of garlic and the green peas. Styr for around 3 min. In a blender, combine the green peas and garlic with silken tofu, nutritional yeast, and basil leaves (reserve some for adding later). Blend till creamy. Add water according to the consistency you prefer.Taste for salt.
- Cook the pasta according to the instructions. Drain the water and add the sauce to the pasta, mix gently, adding the rest of basil leaves. Serve immediately
- If you don't like tofu, you can use cashews instead. Combine the green peas and garlic with 1/2 cup of cashews, 1/2 cup of water, nutritional yeast, and basil leaves.
Hi…how much basil? Basil isn’t in the list of ingredients. Thank you!
Hey Elizabeth, many thanks for letting me know about the missing ingredient. I update the info in the recipe – 1/2 cup of basil leaves!
Oh wow, the recipe and your pictures look so good 🙂
Es klingt total lecker und sieht auch so aus. Ich werde es bestimmt mal probieren 🙂