
Pesto is one of those spreads that's a must-make when you have a food processor. For some minimal effort that includes throwing a collection of ingredients in and hitting pulse, you get a delicious spread that's cheaper than the store variety, and all the tastier.
However, it's not so friendly to the vegan population, with its healthy dose of parmesan cheese in the mix. Luckily, there's a no-cheese, wonderfully vegan variety that can elicit oohs and ahhs as well. (Courtesy of the Fresh cookbook!) But wait -- don't curl up your nose, anti-veganites -- no-cheese pesto serves another function: it allows you to make a tasty pesto that's cheaper, and perfect for those times when you've run out of parmesan.
In fact, the recipe after the jump is so versatile that it tasted pretty darned good even without the fresh spinach (which I didn't have). I just substituted extra basil from my rapidly growing herb garden. Dig in!











