On Tuesday I finally tried making green pesto with my new hand blender and basil plant. I cooked it with pan-fried yellow and green peppers, quorn chicken and fusilli pasta. My Blackberry camera doesn't do this justice and the colours look a bit odd, but it was delicious. It turns out its super easy to make, and tastes miles better than the pesto you buy in jars.
Here is the recipe for the Green Pesto if you'd like to have a go yourself :)
Green Pesto
Ingredients:
2 bunches of fresh basil
1-2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of garlic
2 tablespoons of pine kernals/pine nuts
150ml ofolive oil
2 tablespoons of Parmesan (I bought shredded Parmesan, but any will do)
Salt + freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
1. Put the stripped basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil into a container.
2. Immerse the hand blender in the mixture, press and hold the on switch on the highest setting and purée until fine.
3. Finally, add the Parmesan. If you bought shredded Parmesan like me, blend this up into the mixture too - you won't need to do this if you bought it powdered or ground fine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
You can keep the pesto in a screw top jar or sealed container which I think just about everybody has laying about the house somewhere. Cover with a small layer of olive oil and it will keep for about a month in the fridge.
It should make about 2-3 servings, but if you want to make more it's easy to adjust the recipe. I'd love to hear your results if you've made this. I'm going to try Red Pesto next time :) Happy cooking!
