Once you have made home made pesto, you can forget ever buying it in jars again. The first time I made it, my kids refused to eat the commercial stuff afterwards. You will need a blender or a lot of elbow grease with a pestle and mortar.
Ingredients
1 packet of basil leaves
1 clove garlic – crushed
1 tablespoon pine nuts
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt
To stir in afterwards
25g finely grated parmesan cheese (I have used strong cheddar instead)
Method
Cut the stalks off the basil leaves if they look tough, then add all the ingredients apart from the cheese to a food processor/blender (I use my Nutribullet).
Blend until thoroughly pulverised. Tip into a bowl and stir in the cheese.
You can serve this with pasta or as a dressing for a tomato, mozzarella and avocado salad or use it as a garnish on a tomato soup (home made – not Heinz!). You can also use it to make rice salad with arborio rice (risotto rice)
