How nice it is to preserve the aromas of herbs and enjoy them throughout the long winter! Olive oil absorbs the aroma of herbs and spices very well. Other known methods of preserving herbs for the winter (drying and freezing) are inferior to preservation in olive oil, since the herbs acquire a specific smell and taste. And thanks to olive oil, freshly chopped basil greens fully retain their taste. Salads, marinades, soups seasoned with basil in oil acquire a completely different taste and begin to “sound” in a new way. The basil and cashew snack is especially good for making sauces, pizza, salads, marinades, and bruschettas. This basil and cashew snack makes a great base for pesto. In the classic Genoese pesto recipe (the most common, original type of pesto), the main ingredients are basil, Parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and pine nuts or other nuts. Depending on the type of pesto, lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, dried fruits, chili peppers and sweet peppers can also be added. In some versions of the classic sauce, the ingredients are replaced, for example, in Gargano pesto, basil is replaced with turnip tops, and in pesto with Sicilian hazelnuts, there is no basil at all and hazelnuts are used, which is unusual for other types of pesto. This product is also suitable for those pesto lovers who do not eat animal products. There are many recipes for pesto without the use of cheese with milk, and very often they use cashews and nutritional yeast (not to be confused with regular baker's yeast) specifically to add the taste of cheese. Nutritional yeast is pasteurized by heating, so it is inactive and unable to grow, but it has an interesting, cheese-like taste and aroma, and is a useful food additive because contain a high percentage of protein. Also, walnuts, almonds or ready-made vegan plant-based cheese are often added to plant-based versions of pesto. But we can say with confidence that even without replacing the cheese in the recipe with anything, you can get a very tasty pasta sauce.