Here I go again with malunggay. What can I say? A vegetable vendor gifted me a whole bunch, and I didn’t want them to go to waste, so I thought of different ways to use them in my cooking. Granted, malunggay pesto is not an original idea. Many have tried this before, but my version is a little bit creamier -alot creamier, because I added plant milk, particularly soy milk (although oat milk might have been a good one, too).
Also, my version does not directly replace basil. Instead, the malunggay replaces the garlic. To me, malunggay is so zesty that if you add garlic, the pesto might taste too zesty, even bitter. But if you still end up having a zesty pesto, I recommend offsetting it with more lemon juice, olive oil, and salt.
Another way to enjoy the malunggay pesto sauce, aside from pasta, is to have it in sandwiches or pizzas. Slather it on a piece of sliced sourdough bread and toast it. It would be divine! Then, perhaps make it into a sandwich by adding alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes, pepper, and your preferred vegan meat alternative. Just like the versatility of the malunggay vegetable itself, you can also develop creative applications for the pesto sauce. But first, let’s make it, shall we?
- 200 grams or about ½ pounds spaghetti pasta noodles (you can also use linguine or fettucine)
- 1 tablespoon malunggay
- 10-12 pieces basil leaves
- ¾ cup olive oil
- ¾ cup plant-based milk
- ¼ cup raw almonds (you can also use cashews or walnuts or pine nuts)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, or more to taste
- Cook pasta noodles according to package instructions
- To make the pesto, in a blender or food processor, puree the malunggay and basil in olive oil, plant-based milk, raw almonds, salt, and lemon juice. Adjust seasoning to taste. If you'd like to thin out the consistency, add more olive oil and plant-based milk one tablespoon at a time.
- Mix in the sauce to the noodles and toss to coat the noodles evenly.
- Garnish with basil and serve.