Sure you can and as Dan said there are lots of non-dairy vegan recipes for it. But without the cheese I sure wouldn't call it "pesto". That would be like calling basil-free stuff basil pesto. ;-)

If you believe the cheese is bad for you, most recipes only call for 1/2 c cheese so in a normal serving you'd be getting very little cheese anyway.

Dave

I'm curious. This thread completely disappeared for 24 hours, and then popped back up. Does anyone know how that happens?

Just a guess based on past experience. When cross-posted on multiple forums but those forums are on separate servers (as they are here) then an issue with one forum's server affects all the posts.

Dave

Yes, Dave, I think I've experienced that too. In my past experience, it just meant you couldn't post. Never seen a thread wholly disappear before. I was thinking that someone must have flagged/reported it for some reason. Now, pesto without parmesan might be worth flagging! Kind of offensive taste-wise.

Now, this is still screwed up, because my response here is not showing on the index page.

Daninthedirt, I think its internet gnomes, but I would I wouldn't rule out space aliens or inter-dimensional beings either.

I believe that dairy products in moderation are very good for us.

About 3/4 of the people in the world are lactose intolerant. It isn't too good for them.

I would never have believed that 3/4 of people are lactose intolerant! But even those folks can eat moderate amounts of hard cheeses like parmesan. Jean, is that the issue with you or are there other reasons why you think that dairy products are unhealthy?

Kind of amazing, really. Yes, in North America and Eurasia, lactose intolerance is rare. But most of the people in the world live in the other places.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-dairy-bad-or-good

But, fair question what jeanweddings's problem is.

I have a friend who cannot eat any dairy and she made a delicious pesto using soaked cashews in place of the cheese.

Indeed, rhizo_1, it is true that many hard cheeses are lower in lactose than many softer ones. Good point.

Can't recall exactly where I read it, but did read that many who are lactose intolerant will actually "out grow" that condition once in their 40's to 50's. Now whether that applied only to folks of north America or Eurasia I have no idea.

OP never came back to comment or explain so the "why" is a moot question.

Dave

Oh it was prob the Big Dairy cartel. LOL

I luv dairy but Im an avid Dr Jennifer Daniels listener.. Raw creamy goat milk yum but gave it up. have y'all see the way" A Hats" treat their dairy cows. ?? Bought some "compost.." couple yrs ago from one and I was PO. He had them away from grass.... and this is a semi rural area or was yrs ago(fairly new dairy cow owner) . It still "a one horse town I call it

mblan13 You know the Russians messed with the election.....They must pick important subjects to mess with....like gardening boards!

I have to say I find the OP's recent posts extremely confusing to understand and with a bit of a tendency to go off on tangents. If they were written in clear sentences (with less colloquialisms and abbreviations) they would be a lot easier to decipher as to the question being asked. And would therefore receive more appropriate responses.

FWIW, there are many recipes online for vegan or paleo dairy-free pesto. Just takes a small amount of Googling............

Agree. Confusing to say the least and misleading to readers.

I have great difficulty making a connection between "believe that it [dairy] is not good for us" and "the way one guy [they bought compost from] was treating his cows by keeping them off the grass". Come on Jean if you are going to make such controversial statements in your posts then at least try to clarify them.

No idea who this "Dr Jennifer Daniels" is other than, according to Google, some sort of spirituality guru with questionable accreditations who believes turpentine cures all (shades of a snake oil salesman!!). But if this sort of thing is what she preaches about dairy products then there are several cows missing from her herd.

Dave

Funny that. Don't eat dairy, but eat turpentine instead! I suspect it might well help cleaning out your digestive system of any oil paint you've managed to drink.

There may be recipes available on line for ‘pesto’ without authentic ingredients but that doesn’t mean they’re any good. Just make the darn stuff to a proper recipe. It’s not going to affect one’s health in the tiny quantities used. You’re not going to be eating it by the bowlful. If you don’t want to use the proper ingredients make something else with your basil.

pesto means paste, and in a country garden, dependent on region, mint and basil go very well together, with good olive oil, salt and pepper - right there is a twist, a good substitute on dairy is pecorino romano which is a goat cheese instead of parmiagiano coming from cows, just use a little less, both cheeses are good for the digestion and add calcium, don't forget to add some pine nuts (and i'm very naughty I will occasionally on a batch add raisins for sweetness very un-traditional)

Yes, pesto does mean paste, indeed I make a version with wild garlic. But if jeanwedding wants to make an authentic Genovese pesto, rather than just a similar paste using convenient greenery, it needs basil, garlic, cheese, olive oil and salt.