Pesto: Green and Delicious

As of now, I'm procrastinating. I have two research papers to complete and am far from finishing. Oh well.

I thought that I'd do something different for today's blog. Rather than writing about eating out, today's post will consist of a simple recipe for pesto. Pesto is so much nicer when it's homemade, as opposed to buying store-bought pesto from the supermarket. I find store-bought pesto to be extremely overwhelming and too strong in flavour. One of my brothers had shown me how to make it a few years ago, and it has become one of my favourite things to make since it is so easy to make and hardly takes any time to prepare. I really like mixing it through with pasta and lamb!



Pesto
2C basil
1/4 C parmesan, grated
1 big clove of garlic (or else, 2 small cloves)
2-3T of pine nuts
60-75ml extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Note: I use a "mini wizz" to make my pesto, which is essentially a mini-blender. If you don't have one of those appliances in your kitchen, then you could a blender I guess (or a mortar and pestle, but you would have cut the basil finely to save time).



1. In a small pan, toast the pine nuts on medium heat. Keep shaking the pan (or use a spoon) to ensure that the pine nuts don't brown too quickly or burn. You'll know when the pine nuts are really, once they reach a nice brown colour and once you can smell the nuttiness of the pine nuts. Mmmm. Once brown, leave them to the side.

2. In the mini wizz, toss in the basil, pine nuts, garlic, and a little bit of the olive oil. Grind (or pulse if you're using a blender) for 10seconds. Use a bowl scraper to scrape off the sides of the mini wizz bowl.

3. Add the parmesan, salt & pepper if you desire, and a little bit more of the olive oil. Grind/pulse. Similar procedure to #2 basically.

(I wish I had a nicer photo. My camera started to act really shitty. Ugh).

4. Add the remaining olive oil, and grind for about 15-20 seconds. You can add more or less oil than the amount allocated above. It really depends on the type of consistency you want. Less oil, thicker consistency.

How to store pesto
When storing pesto, store it in a mini plastic container or mini glass jar (i.e. a jam jar). Once the pesto is in the jar, pour extra virgin olive oil over the top of the pesto (about 2-3cm worth). By having that extra layer of oil on top, it preserves the green colour of the pesto and keeps it fresh!

Next blog: Ponsonby Food Blog (I actually went there last night, so a post should hopefully be up soon!) & a guest blogger will review Ponsonby Road Bistro! Woo.