Making Do: Broccoli-Butt Pesto (Vegan/Dairy Free)

With almonds because who can afford pine nuts?

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I must confess, broccoli and I are not the best of friends. We’ve only really gotten aquatinted with one another recently.

Image description: Bright green pesto on a metal spoon resting on a wooden cutting board.

In general, cruciferous vegetables and I have had a rough history. I’m eager to make amends and Broccoli-Butt Pesto is one of the ways I’m doing it. It is my promise to not take broccoli for granted. It is also worship to basil, who is and always will be a beloved green thing.

In my mind, basil and olive oil are the foundation of pesto. Everything else can be tinkered, adjusted and played with. Ligurians may disagree with me, as is their right, but for anyone making pesto in a place where a cup of pine nuts costs more than a weekly grocery haul, I say use what you can afford or what you already have. I had almonds, so I used almonds in this recipe. I have also made pesto with walnuts and it turned out great!

When it comes to olive oil, I can be a bit picky. Typically, I’ll keep a regular (affordable) olive oil for every day use and a *fancy* olive oil for dishes like this one, where I want that flavour to really shine. My *fancy* olive oil is more expensive because it is from a smaller batch grower. The flavour is also more intense. Your *fancy* olive oil doesn’t need to be expensive or intense, it just needs to have a flavour that you enjoy.

Typically you are meant to make pesto in a mortar and pestle, not a blender. Olive oil does not like the metal blades of a blender and can become bitter when blended at high speeds. I don’t have a mortar and pestle because I’m an indecisive gal with limited counter space. One of these days I will buy one, but for those of you who are also working with a blender, know that you can still make this recipe. Don’t worry about the olive oil, it will be fine and it will taste great!

For those of you who are working with a mortar and pestle, start with nuts, oil, and basil and add your remaining ingredients once those have been broken down.

Some things to hold with you if you decide to make this recipe:

• This recipe is a reflection of my location and features ingredients I have easy access to as someone who lives in a city in Southern Ontario. Access to these ingredients may very depending on where you are located. Play with the ingredients you have available to you in your location and within your budget. You may end up with something even yummier!

• Access Note: If you choose to use a mortar and pestle, be mindful that this method might exacerbate hand and/or wrist pain, especially if you are using a harder nut like almond.

Alright, into the recipe!

Broccoli-Butt Pesto (Vegan/Dairy Free)

Image description: Overhead photo of bright green pesto in a glass jar.

Makes approximately 270ml (small jar) | 30 minute cook and prep time

*Read at least once over before you begin*

Printable copy available here: Broccoli-Butt Pesto Printable Recipe

This recipe is vegan/ dairy free. However, if you would prefer to add cheese, you are welcome to do so. It has not been tested with cheese, so if you add it, you are the recipe tester!

The mess/ what you’ll have to clean up:

• measuring cups and scoops

• cutting board

• knife

• small-medium pot

• spoon for stirring and eating

• the blender/ mortar and pestle

Image description: For scale. Melissa’s hand holding a piece of broccoli stem (approx 2inches in length) on a cutting board. There are two other pieces of broccoli stem (2.5 inches and .5 inch) next to the one being held. Beside the broccoli stems there is a large handful of basil.

Ingredients

• 100g (1/2 cup) raw unsalted almonds

• 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast (feel free to add more if you’d like it cheesier)

• approximately 15g (one whole bunch) of fresh basil

• 110g (1/2 cup) *fancy* olive oil

• approximately 100g of boiled broccoli stems— this usually comes out to be ALL the thicker bits of a medium sized head

• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

• 1/2 tsp pink salt (add more to taste later)

• 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

• 1/2 tsp rep pepper flakes

• 1 clove of roasted garlic (or 1/2 clove of raw garlic)

• OPTIONAL: 1inch/1inch cube of the Fortino’s Vegan Romano Cheese (the best vegan cheese!!!!)

  

Image description: Fortinos brand cheese with an ingredient tag that reads “Water (40%), Modified starch (34%), Vegetable fat (coconut) (22%), Anti-caking agents (E341, vegetable fibres), salt, flavour, colouring: beta carotene, preservative: sorbic acid. (4%) Product of Italy”

Method

1. Begin by boiling your broccoli stems.

2. While the broccoli cooks, measure out all of the other ingredients and add them to the blender. I like to add the almonds first, followed by the olive oil and then the other ingredients. I don’t know if it does anything, but I like to let the almonds sit in the oil while the broccoli cooks. I have not tried this recipe with soaked almonds but I imagine this might add more liquid to the recipe than is necessary.

3. Once the ingredients are measured and added to your blender, check your broccoli-butts. When you can easily break the stems with a spoon they are ready to be drained.

4. Drain the broccoli through a colander and let cool for 5 minutes.

5. Add the steamed broccoli, now cooled, into the blender with the rest of the ingredients.

6. Blend, baby! Depending on the blender you’re using you will likely need to stop a few times to stir the mixture, which will be quite thick. If you’d like your pesto thinner/silkier, add a splash or two more olive oil.

7. Taste test! Would you like your pesto more acidic? Add more lemon juice. Is it salty enough for your taste? If not, add more salt. Spicy enough? Add more pepper flakes if you must.

8. Transfer pesto into a small jar, let cool with the lid off, and store in the fridge, sealed for up to a week.

Some Pesto Inspiration

1. Bean Salad with Broccoli-Butt Pesto and Fermented Chilis. Topped with extra fresh-cracked black pepper.

2. Cavatelli Pasta with Broccoli-Butt Pesto and Fermented Chilis. Topped with Fortino’s vegan Romano.

   

3. Pesto and Roasted Veggie Sandwich on Focaccia.