Avocado Basil Pesto by Exceedingly Vegan
Really get your greens in with this deliciously healthy pasta dish. A nice and healthy meal for when you want something filling and full of vitamin goodness.
Servings Prep Time
3-4people 30minutes
Servings Prep Time
3-4people 30minutes
Ingredients
Pesto Ingredients
Crispy Tofu Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Start by squeezing the water out of 200g of tofu (you can either do this with a tofupress or yourself – see directions on Exceedingly Vegan’s site. I often just wrap tofu in a hand towel or two, put a layer pan on top of it, and pile some cans onto the layer pan for weight.
  2. Boil pasta or noddles in water with a bit of oil and a dash of salt.
  3. Dry toast (no oil) the pine nuts in a large pan for about 5 minutes. Make sure they don’t burn (they burn easily). This will bring out their flavour much more.
  4. Using either a large blender or a small blender (then you will have to do this in 2-3 batches) add all pesto ingredients and blend until you get a smooth pesto.
  5. After the water has been squeezed out of the tofu cut it into small cubes and add them to a bowl. Add all other crispy tofu ingredients as well and mix up by shaking the bowl (put a plate on top so you don’t make a mess).
  6. Heat up some oil in a large pan and fry your tofu cubes until they get crispy. (You can keep this oil-free by just browning the tofu in a pan.)
  7. Plate your dish with the pasta or noodles at the bottom, then pour the pesto on top (you could even heat it up quickly if needed) and then sprinkle the crispy tofu cubes on top. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes

After making side by side versions both with and without the nutritional yeast, I added the note that the nutritional yeast is optional.   I liked it both ways equally, and the two people I cooked for like it better without the nutritional yeast.