Put the broccoli, most of the basil (save a few leaves for a garnish), salt and pepper, garlic, cheese, nutritional yeast and cashew nuts in a food processer and whiz until combined. Drizzle in the oil and whiz until you get the right consistency. Alternatively, place the ingredients in a mortar and pestle, and pound into a paste. Taste and season some more if it needs it, and add a splash more oil if the mixture is too thick.
For the pasta, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the pasta and cook for 10–12 minutes or according to the packet instructions, until just tender.
Drain the pasta well, return it to the pan and toss with the pesto. Transfer to serving bowls, with a sprinkling of extra grated cheese if you like.
Variation: To make creamier green pesto, blitz a few spoonfuls of soya cream cheese with it before tossing it with the pasta.
For a traditional (vegan) pesto sauce use the same method as above with the following ingredients:
Leaves from a large bunch of basil, about 40g
2 garlic cloves, peeled
50g pine nuts
120ml extra virgin olive oil
25g vegan hard cheese, grated, plus extra to serve if you like
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and ground black pepper
Recipe adapted from: Vegan kids (Lorenz Books)
