The Best, Easy, Vegan, Tomato Pesto

With summer fast approaching there will be an influx of gardens with beautiful ripe tomatoes. Sometimes there is more than what you can use before they begin to go bad, especially if your neighbor also wants to share their bountiful harvest with you. Rotting tomatoes is such a waste. There are so many things you can make with your bins of little red fruits that will allow them to survive longer in this world. Homemade canned pasta sauce, canned diced tomatoes, or chop them and put them in the freezer. Maybe this year try making them into the best, easy, vegan tomato pesto. This recipe can be stored in the freezer in small amounts for future use. This pesto is excellent spread in sandwiches (I love it in a vegan grilled cheese sandwich) or your morning toast, stirred into pasta or risotto, or maybe with crackers and cheese.

Although this recipe is for vegan pesto you can easily add a 1/2 cup real grated parmesan. I don’t typically use vegan parmesan just because it’s so expensive but if you choose to it will add a nice layer of flavor to the pesto.

Sun dried tomatoes– I dehydrate my tomatoes ahead of time and store them as little tomato chips until I’m ready to use them. If you are purchasing sun dried tomatoes, they are typically stored in olive oil and seasoning so you may want less than the original recipe requires, adjust it to your liking.

Basil- I say a hand full of basil but I have small hands so I know that’s not a real measurement. Basil leaves come in all different sizes but I used about 12 medium-small leaves. Adding more or a little less won’t hurt the composition of your tomato pesto so as always feel free to make it to your personal preferences.

Nuts– I use cashews for my pestos because they are tasty, readily available, and on the cheaper side of nut prices. Pine nuts are also a good choice for pesto if you would like to spend a little more money.