A New Butter's In Town .... Spread it Around!!!

20-10: My first post of the new year! Please, please, hold your applause ... 

I am so excited about this first recipe that I have to share with you!!

A friend of mine sent this along to me and immediately after reading it, I knew exactly what was going to be for dinner that night. 

It starts with a butter. Yes, a new, beautiful butter in my now perfect world: Basil Cashew Butter. Of coarse, this in itself is delicious on anything - crackers, bread, sammies - you name it. But, not only did I get this recipe in my inbox but along with a tip for putting it on pizza! (butter and pizza, my two favorite things!) with asparagus brushed with olive oil sprinkled with koesher (I used Celtic Sea Salt) and fresh tomatoes! YUM! I also topped it off with garlic and fresh cilantro..... mmmmmMMmmmm 

So far for vegan cooking in the kitchen, the new year has been fantastic! Lets give a big thanks to the beautiful Lindsey in Minneapolis for sharing this 'pie with me and you! THANK YOU LINDSEY!

Basil Cashew Butter

(Straight from the chef...)

3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large bunch of basil
1 can of white northern beans
1 cup of raw cashews
lemon, salt, pepper to taste
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put everything but cashews, lemon, salt and pepper into your food processor. after well blended, add the cashews slowly until they seem to have minimized down (to your own preference, i like them really blended, makes everything more pleasurable!)

All right - NOW that that's done, Go For it!

I used Isa's pizza crust from Vegan with a Vengeance. Once stretched and ready to go I spread the basil cashew butter as a base, topped with asparagus, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with chopped garlic and sea salt, and cilantro. Baked at 500 for about 9 minutes.  That's pizza #1 -

 for pizza #2 we got the cashew butter, then tomato paste swirled in, topped with olives, garlic, and diced tomato. 

Enjoy!