How to make Cashew Pesto Pasta, pasta in a delicious pesto made with basil and cashews.

If you love pesto, you need to try making this Cashew Pesto Pasta recipe with a blender. I love basil, but I don’t love how terribly it lasts before it starts wilting and turn sad! Whenever I have some basil, I find myself in a rush to whip up dishes which uses basil. One of my FAVOURITE ways of using basil – besides in my Thai basil stir fries – would be to make pesto!

Pesto is very versatile. You can use it in pastas, salads, as a dip – it’s a useful condiment to have around! Classic pesto calls for basil and pine nuts, but I rarely use pine nuts since they’re not easily available in my local supermarkets. Plus, they’re expensive. Instead I use roasted cashews, which incidentally is my favourite snack of all time so that’s how this Cashew Pesto Pasta recipe became a go-to in my home.

Why you will LOVE this Pesto Recipe?

It’s QUICK and EASY! Whack everything in a blender, and your sauce is done. Simply toss pasta through, and you have a meal ready.

It requires minimal ingredients! Minus the pasta noodles, the pesto sauce uses just 7 ingredients.

I use a blender! Instead of a food processor, I use a blender here since it’s what I always have on my kitchen counter. I also don’t have to wash a bunch of separate components like with a food processor after.

How to make Cashew Pesto Pasta?

Add roasted cashews, basil, parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper into a blender.
Pulse the blender, to break down some of the cashews first.
Then slowly pour in olive oil and pulse the blender further.
Continue to blend until you get a rough paste!

What do you need to make Cashew Pesto?

Basil Leaves: HEAPS of Italian Sweet Basil is needed to make pesto.
Cashew Nuts: I use ready-made roastew cashew nuts – the same ones you snack on! If you are using raw cashews, make sure to either dry toast it or toast it in the oven first before blending.
Parmesan
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Olive Oil

Can I use Pine Nuts?

Yes, of course! As mentioned, the only reason I do not use pine nuts is because it’s not a common ingredient at our local supermarkets. Even in the few rare times you can find it, it’s expensive.

To use pine nuts, simply replace the cashew nuts with pine nuts in weight. You can also do a half cashew/half pine nut combo.

With the pine nuts, you want to dry toast it over low heat, until it’s roasty and fragrant before blending it in.

How to Store Pesto?

Pesto can keep for a week in the fridge, and even longer in the freezer. Make sure to push the pesto paste underneath the olive oil, to keep the freshness. This will also prevent the basil from turning dark.

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