Wait.. Pesto isn't veggie?
Since turning vegetarian I have been searching packages left right and centre for the little sign to confirm to me that the food I am eating is able to cater to my diet, one of the main foods that shocked me not being vegetarian was parmesan cheese. Yes, thats right, the best kind of cheese to put on top of your pasta is unfortunately not vegetarian. This is because it contains calf rennent, meaning that it is unsuitable for vegetarians. Sadly enough, this means most pesto's which are on the shelves of supermarkets are therefore unsuitable for vegetarians too due to the fact that a key ingredient in these pesto's is parmesan cheese. It wasn't until I read an article by the guardian (link here) that I realised the full extent of which this misconception and thought that all cheeses are vegetarian has reached, if you're interested then I definitely recommend it as a quick 5 minute read!
Thankfully, there are vegetarian pesto options out there, you just have to do a bit more searching for them, I have done a little round up of some of the vegetarian and vegan pesto options to help you find them!
Sacla Italia Free From Pesto is vegan friendly and costs £2.50 at Tesco. They also do a vegetarian version, of the pesto too!
Another good brand is Meridian, who create a range of ‘free from’ products including pesto. This costs £1.99 and tastes great!
Moral of the story is always check for the signs to show that what you're eating is vegetarian and also look out for meals in restaurants which advertise parmesan as a vegetarian ingredient, as unfortunately it definitely isn’t.
(Credit for the illustration goes to the artist, I am unsure of who it is by as I found it on Pinterest.)
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