Cooking with VPharma’s Mega Malunggay: Homemade Pesto Sauce Recipe

We try to involve Tikoy in our cooking to build his interest in food, and one of the easy recipes we can make with his toddler-sized hands is our DIY Pesto sauce. As always, (especially these days) we work with what we have, so this isn’t the standard Pesto sauce you’d expect with Pine Nuts and such and we’re making it super nutritious with VPharma’s Mega Malunggay!

Why Mega Malunggay?

V Pharma’s Mega Malunggay is my choice of natural supplement. It has helped me boost my breastmilk while I was still nursing Tikoy. And even now that our little boy is weaned, I still take them daily as it’s also a source of non-acidic vitamin C, iron, calcium, and essential proteins and oils. This superfood also helps normalize blood pressure and sugar level!

Ingredients

• 4 handfuls of fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 cup roasted peanuts
• 1 1/2 bulb of garlic, peeled (separate the half and chop)
• 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 bunch shimeji mushrooms, pulled apart
• capers
• sliced olives
• salt & pepper
• 2 capsules Vpharma’s Mega Malunggay
• grated parmesan cheese
• pasta

What you’ll need:

• food processor or blender
• pan

Procedure

1. Put together the basil, peanuts, 1 cup of peeled garlic, and lemon juice on the food processor and run it while slowly adding the olive oil.
2. Add salt & pepper and run it in the food processor until everything comes together into a slightly smooth sauce. (We think it’s nicer when you can still see bits of basil leaves)

3. Set the sauce aside and start to boil some water for your pasta and cook as directed.

Note: You may simply add the sauce on your cooked pasta, but we like to bring out the flavor more by sauteeing the pesto sauce. And since we have some mushrooms in hand, we’ll cook it there.

4. Heat a pan and add some olive oil. Add the rest of the garlic (chopped). After the garlic browns, add the shiitake mushrooms. The shimeji mushrooms cook quickly, so add it only when you’re sure that the shiitake mushrooms are tender.
5. Add the sauce and stir it under low heat. Add the capers and olives. Adjust the flavor with some finishing touches of salt and pepper.
6. Once you smell that the basil and nut’s aroma intensifies, turn off the heat.
7. Open 2 capsules of Mega Malunggay for more nutrients, and stir.

8. Mix the finished sauce with your cooked pasta.
9. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.

Try this at home and make it yours! You may choose to leave out a few things I added, or incorporate others that you think will complement the flavor.

You may get your Mega Malunggay at Lazada or through their website at www.vpharma.ph and get a discount when you use our code, MARKXABILOVESVPHARMA upon check out!