Vegan Basil Pesto (With Freezing Instructions)

1. First, you'll need to separate the leaves from the stems of your basil. To make pesto, you can also use the stems, but we prefer to only use the leaves. Then, wash and dry all the leaves with a paper towel.
2. Add all the ingredients to make the pesto in a food processor or blender.
3. Incorporate the fresh basil, pine nuts, yeast flakes, garlic cloves, half of the olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Blend all the ingredients, and if needed, keep adding some more olive oil while blending the pesto. You may need to stop a few times to scrape down the bits left on the sides of the blender and make sure all the leaves are finely chopped and incorporated into the pesto sauce.
5. Now, you can use this pesto to make some of your favorite recipes, such as Trenette al pesto or you can freeze it to stock up on pesto for the upcoming months.

Freezing Instructions

1. If you want to freeze the pesto, transfer the sauce into an ice cube tray. Depending on the size of your tray, you'll be able to fit more or less sauce in each space.
2. Fill up all the ice cube tray cubes and seal with some more olive oil. Then leave the ice cube tray in the freezer overnight so the pesto completely freezes.
3. Once frozen, you can transfer the homemade pesto to a Ziplock bag and freeze it for up to six months.
4. To thaw the pesto, simply take one or two cubes, depending on the amount of pesto you need, leave it to completely thaw at room temperature, or place it in a frying pan at low heat to thaw the vegan pesto slowly