Pesto

2017 Update: Due to a problem with Photobucket, see here, there will be a lot of recipes without photos. I will be slowly redoing the recipe pages, as best I can, but many other posts will be impossible to replace. I’m doing this in my own time, while continuing to update the blog with new recipes and posts. If you’d like to donate, any amount appreciated, you can do so here. The site will always be free, the recipes will never be locked behind a paywall, but this is a lot of additional work. I’m not demanding or begging, just putting it there so if you feel like repaying my hard work you have that option. I don’t make any money from the site, all that I do here is to help others, I couldn’t charge for that.

Topped with Sautéed Garlic.

I’m still crawling through these recipes, trying to match them with the correct pictures, which is much harder than you’d think, dear reader, many recipes are very similar in appearance and some weren’t worth keeping the photos of. As I’m here I may as well talk about my love of pesto. It’s the reason I took up gardening, you know how that went to an extreme. It’s not the easiest of herbs to grow in Irish weather, but a greenhouse or covered place helps. Fresh pesto, even after freezing, is just wonderfully flavoursome. All it needs is just enough heat to melt the oil and to let it coat warm pasta and you’re all set, the flavour will depend of the basil used, but regardless of which you chose you’ll find it makes a wonderful dish. I’ve never been able to go back to store bought after growing my own, between the fresh taste and the variety in nuts or seeds it’s just not something I want as an inferior version. I can make a large batch of pesto, freeze it and have it for months. The plan is always to have enough to do me until the next year’s harvest, but that’s not always possible. If you’ve never tried pesto then I urge you to try it, I’d never eaten it until I made my own. I omit the cheese and prefer almonds to walnuts, but the taste is exquisite. Simple, but the complexity of the herbs really comes through and the oiliness offsets the blandness of the pasta. I hope if you do try it you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.

I usually freeze mine in ice-cube trays, but this was a gift.

Fresh basil makes the best pesto. The fresher the better.

Ingredients

2 Cups/50g Basil Leaves (No Stems) or 2 Cups of any Herb/Leafy Greens
125ml Olive Oil (Use less for a thicker Pesto)
1/4 Cup/35g Toasted or Raw Pistachios/Pine Nuts/Walnuts/Almonds
or
1/4 Cup/15g Dessicated Coconut
or
1/4 Cup/35g Hempseed
4 Cloves Garlic (More or less to taste)
Salt and Black Pepper to Taste

65g is average serving weight. Usually yields four servings.
Top with Olive Oil when Freezing.

Method

1. Blitz everything unless otherwise stated.

Advertisement