When your fussy-eater 7 year old tries a pesto sauce at a vegan market and says it’s the best thing he tried there, you don’t miss an opportunity to whip up a pesto sauce and serve him pesto pasta for dinner!

I added a sneaky handful of baby spinach leaves to the mix, nutritional yeast instead of parmesan, and toasted the macadamia nuts for a richer flavour and extra crunch.

This pesto went down a treat and had him begging for more!

Method

If using garlic cloves, peel the garlic, then pound in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of sea salt.

Toast the nuts in a dry frying pan until lightly golden brown.

Roughly chop the basil leaves and spinach leaves and add to a food processor.

Add the garlic, nuts, nutritional yeast and salt to the processor.

Drizzle in about ¼ cup of the olive oil – you need just enough to bind the sauce – and blend.

Have a taste, and keep adding a bit more seasoning or oil until you are happy with the taste and consistency.

Add a sprinkle of coconut sugar if you like your sauce a little sweeter.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end (optional).

Pour mixture into a glass jar, drizzle olive oil over the top to keep from going brown, and store in the fridge.

Serving suggestions

Toss pesto sauce over pasta or courgetti.

Mix pesto with cream cheese for a creamier sauce.

Add more olive oil to make a salad dressing.