Pure Hunger

I was hesitant to post a photo of the final product because, honestly, it looks pretty gross. I didn’t want you to be side tracked by the beast of it’s looks because the beauty of it’s taste must be sampled. This recipe came out of desperation when I finally confronted the huge sack of parsley growing in my vegetable drawer due to a great harvest every single week. I had put parsley in just about every dish we consume and I still hadn’t made even a nick in the towering bunch of green leaves. I had heard of making pesto from herbs other than basil and began looking for inspiration. I found some great ideas here and here and added my own flair with the pecans.

Ingredients

4 Cups Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley (or one large bunch)
1/2 C. Toasted Pecans
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 Garlic Cloves, pressed
Juice of one Lemon
1-2 t. Lemon Zest
1/2 C. Olive Oil
Sea Salt and Ground Pepper to taste

Toast sesame seeds until lightly browned under broiler on low and then throw all ingredients into a blender. I accidentally burnt mine and it still came out tasting great. Process for 30-60 seconds. This is actually a recipe for vegan parmesan cheese so enjoy it on spaghetti or on lasagna sometime as well.

Add parsley, pecans, “parmesan”, garlic, lemon juice and zest to a food processor.  If you do not have a processor, you can use a blender but I found it somewhat tricky and time consuming. Puree until pasty. With the machine running, add oil in a slow stream. 

Puree for another minute.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  If using on pasta, reserve about 1/4 - 1/2 c. of pasta water to thin out the sauce.  Enjoy

I used the pesto right away on this dish and it turned out incredible. I just added quinoa and rice instead of sausage.