Basil Pesto

This is a very simple recipe and once you’ve made it you’ll never buy shop bought pesto again! Try it with our Fresh Egg Pasta. 

Serves four if used with pasta for a main

Ingredients:

100 grams basil leaves – no stalks (I used four 28 gram packs from Sainsburys which weighed 100 grams after de-stalking)
25 grams pine nuts
20 grams Parmesan cheese, finely  grated
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
Plenty of sea salt, black pepper and chilli flakes

Method:

1. Lightly toast the pine nuts on a medium heat. Watch them closely as they will go from white to overly toasted fast.
2. In a small food processor / chopper, place the basil leaves, pine nuts, cheese, a good pinch of salt and pepper, pinch of chilli flakes, and around 75% of the olive oil and blend.
3. Check to see if the pesto is too thick – if so, add more oil. Also taste for seasoning. I usually end up adding a few glugs of extra oil and plenty more salt and pepper.
4. This is a flexible recipe – if you like your pesto very cheesy, add more cheese. If it seems there is too much of something, just add more of the other ingredients until you have the right balance.