Since I am a glutton for punishment, I made another attempt at homemade pesto. This time I decided to brave into dairy-free waters. I like pesto with cheese but it’s annoying to waste a dairy encounter with a sauce. I would much rather eat cheese or pizza (with lots of cheese on it).

I have heard of walnut pestos so I decide to try that instead of pine nuts. Because raw walnuts make Manatee’s throat itch (and I don’t particularly want to kill him via food allergy), I toasted the walnuts. This should have been my first clue that I was doomed to failure:

 

Word to the wise: it doesn’t take long to toast walnuts. So do not leave the room and do a load of laundry while your walnuts are in your toaster oven. It won’t end pretty. I tried again with vigilance.

Much better….

In addition to subbing in walnuts for pine nuts, I also decided to try and use some garlic scapes instead of garlic.

 

You’ll also notice that my basil looks pretty wilted. I read a tip that if you blanched the basil then your pesto would stay green longer. I tried it but to be honest, I’m not sure how much it helped because Manatee ate it in one sitting.

 

You may be wondering why I did not include a recipe. I mean, Manatee ate it so it must be good, right?

I thought this stuff was nasty. It had an okay flavor but it lacked punch. I liked that it wasn’t greasy and that I could taste the basil but it just wasn’t enough for me.

As I said, Manatee ate it on his salad and he thought it was God’s gift to pesto. To be honest, I think I am just blessed to have a husband who worships my cooking. I mean, pre-Badger Girl he ate all of his meals at the Copps salad bar.

Does anyone have any tips for making your own pesto? If you have a good dairy-free recipe, you will be my new best friend. I know that it’s out there and I have two basil plants to keep me supplied with ingredients. The goal is no dairy and not too oily. Thoughts?

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