Vegetarian pesto

[hugoagogo]

So much pesto is made with parmesan the only veggie ones I can find are over £2 and as I don't use it very often and usually end up throwing about 3/4 jar away I would like to find a cheaper option.
Googling is not helping...
Maybe you can freeze it?

[RiverTam]

Sacla do a veggie one. If you keep it topped up with olive oil it should last a pretty long time in the fridge.

You can make your own but I don't actually think it's cost effective - just tastier!

[Amalfimamma]

You could make it yourself it out parmigani and freeze. You can freeze the shop bought one too

[ErrolTheDragon]

You can certainly freeze it - we never use a whole jar at a time, so I freeze it in an ice-cube tray inside a sealed bag. Just defrost a couple of lumps for a single serving. I don't see why this wouldn't work for home-made with a vegetarian cheese.

[hugoagogo]

If you can freeze it, then that maybe the answer!

You would the cheap pesto would be vegetarian? Isn't parmesan really expensive?

[UnicornMadeOfPinkGlitter]

I think it's sacla do shot pots! Three small pots of pesto for us each pot is plenty for the 3-4 of us who eat it as I don't like it swimming in it just a light coating of pasta or gnocchi.

My mum says that each pot is enough for her and my sister as they like more pesto than we do.

[RiverTam]

Sainsbo's Basics Italian Hard Cheese is veggie Parmesan and is pretty cheap.

[RiverTam]

Are the shot pots veggie?

[Lapinlapin]

Sacla organic one is nice, although it is expensive. I keep mine in the fridge for longer than it says and it's always fine i.e it keeps for a few weeks no probs.

[Sleepybeanbump]

We buy sacla vegetarian pesto for dairy allergic DS after vegan friends all told us it's not economical to make your own...

[RiverTam]

Surely it's still got dairy in it, ie cheese, just not cheese made with rennet?

[hugoagogo]

I don't look at the date, but I draw the line at green fur!

[IHaveBrilloHair]

I have just checked the pot shots and they don't say they are veggie so I'd assume not, however they don't list parmesan as an ingredient.
I'm not veggie so it's not an issue for me, I bought them as I live alone and they are a convenient size.

[IHaveBrilloHair]

They definitely do have dairy and it's clearly listed

[milpool]

Sacla Organic Vegetarian one is really nice but it is about £2.50 a jar I think.

Asda do an own brand one that's marked as veggie but it's nowhere near as nice.

[milpool]

Generally with pesto my rule is that it's not veggie unless it specifically says it is. Most of the hard cheese used in pesto isn't vegetarian.

[binkiesandpopcorns]

Sacla's gluten free pesto is also dairy free. Not cheap either though.

www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=283949873&gclid=COfnorvDgM8CFYQy0wodGHQPDQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

[YelloDraw]

I generally use 1/2 the jar and then freeze the other half just in the jar and then defrost in the microwave when I want to finish it up.

[hugoagogo]

People must use a lot of pesto! One of the jars I looked at on the tesco website says it serves 4!

How can that be right?!
One spoonful is plenty and still leaves loads on the plate.

Have I been doing it wrong all these years?

[ErrolTheDragon]

No, a quarter of a jar on a serving of pasta would be way too much.

[RiverTam]

I would use about half a jar for 3 of us (about 9 ounces of pasta). I like a decent coating on the pasta.

[Amalfimamma]

If I buy a jar I use a full jar on 500g of pasta plus a jar and a half of the cooking water to loosen it up a bit otherwise it's too dry for my tastes

[NicknameUsed]

I get the Sacla organic one and really like it.

[traviata]

I use pesto a lot, instead of butter or pickle in a cheese sandwich or under grilled cheese, as a pizza topping, stirred into soup, with eggs...

[hugoagogo]

The idea of pesto and eggs, may have put me off getting any for quite some time.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Pesto is nice in a cheese panini - one (big) ice-cube of it is perfect.