How to preserve basil and raw vegan pesto recipe

Our customers have often requested the recipe for our raw pesto and have asked how to preserve fresh basil.

Our magnificent basil comes from the growers, Carol and Conrad, at Kindrachuk C & C Organics in the Araluen Valley.

To take advantage of the season, you could preserve the basil or make a batch of homemade pesto. This recipe makes about a kilo of pesto. It freezes well and quickly transforms the simplest vegetables. Divide the raw pesto into portion size containers and store them in the freezer for later use.

Raw vegan pesto recipe

180 g cashews

180 g macadamia nuts

160 g basil leaves

160 g English spinach leaves

160 g rocket leaves

1 ¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice

17 g peeled garlic

1 ½­­­ tsp salt

½­­­ tsp ground black pepper

In the food processor roughly blend the nuts, basil leaves, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper so that the ingredients are slightly broken up. Add the spinach and rocket leaves to the mixture and blend all the ingredients together to reach your desired consistency. You can leave it slightly rough so you can see pieces of nuts and leaves. Add lemon juice and seasoning according to taste.

Preserving basil and a shortcut for making raw pesto

If you wish to preserve the freshness of the basil leaves, blend roughly together in a food processor:

160 g basil leaves

1 cup olive oil

Store the mixture in a container in the fridge. With this shortcut the full flavour and freshness of the basil will keep until you wish to make the raw pesto. Or enjoy the basil oil mixed with other foods and dressings.