"Chunky" Walnut Basil Pesto

I really want a food processor, then I can start making more of my own dips and sauces and spice pastes. But today I was watching a video of how Italians traditionally made pesto. They made it by hand, with a mortar and pestle! The word "pesto" is literally translated as "pounded" so the food processor, which chops up the basil instead of grinding it, is actually less desirable. Time to put my "ancient" kitchen utensils and biceps to good use.

Walnut Basil Pesto

Ingredients

1 clove garlic

sea salt, black pepper

3 handfuls of fresh basil leaves

1 handful of walnuts, lightly toasted

1 handful of grated good parmesan

good extra virgin olive oil

squeeze of lemon

Method

1. Crush garlic with the sea salt and black pepper.

2. Add the basil a handful at a time and continue pounding/grinding.

3. Crush the toasted walnuts with your hands first, then add in and continue pounding/grinding.

4. When you get a creamy consistency (I left mine quite chunky), add the grated parmesan.

5. Stir in extra virgin olive oil till you get a smooth enough mixture. It depends on the dryness of the cheese.

6. Add a squeeze of lemon, to taste.

Authentic pesto calls for pine nuts, but I didn't have any, so I used walnuts instead. It's more fun experimenting with other types of herbs or leaves and other nuts actually.

I liked it, the texture was very rustic, so it's more like a chimichurri. To be honest, that's because I got tired. I still want a food processor...

Rocket and Brazil Nut Pesto

We waited weeks for the truly good growing conditions to arrive. A late frost gave us cause for concern and we thought for a few days that we’d lost the entire crop of potatoes - not to mention numerous salads.

Thankfully the sad looking leaves survived and thrived into lush green offerings. The rows of potatoes now stand tall and proud, a thick carpet of the distinctive green leaves cover half the garden like a layer of cloud.

Two lines of lettuce look perky and happy and we’ve already devoured three or four, one with a simple roast chicken with warm bread, some runny mayonnaise and freshly chopped lemon thyme.

The rocket is looking healthy as well: too healthy in fact. We returned after a couple of days away to find it reaching skyward in a manner that would please NASA. Thinking quickly we harvested as many of the oversize leaves as we could and pounded them along with some basil into a fresh, summery pesto.



Stirred into spaghetti it made a wonderful and very quick supper: fresh, peppery, warm with garlic and zingy with lemon. Sometimes a glut is a wonderful thing.

Spaghetti with rocket and brazil nut pesto



Although usually made with pine nuts, the Brazil nuts we found in the back of the cupboard proved to be an excellent substitute. The slightly creamy texture added a slight richness to the pesto.

Two large handfuls of rocket leaves, washed and dried
One handful of basil leaves
9-10 Brazil nuts
2 cloves of garlic
One lemon, zested and juiced
Olive oil
20g Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

Chop the rocket and basil leaves enough to make them fit into a pestle and mortar. Pound the Brazil nuts into a coarse powder then add the garlic and a pinch of sea salt and pound some more. Add the lemon zest then the rocket and basil leaves and continue mashing with the pestle until it begins to look like pesto. Add the olive oil until it is a certifiable sauce then stir in the grated cheese.

Season with sea salt, black pepper and lemon juice and stir through warm spaghetti.

Photographs by @photolotte (flickr)

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Cashew Nut Butter and 'Live Blogging'

Sometimes you read something in the food pages that strikes a real chord with you. Often the recipes featured are distinctly seasonal and faintly inspiring but occasionally one will come along that simply shouts ‘Try me!’

In last Saturday’s Guardian, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was talking nuts. More specifically those big packets of nuts that sit in the back of a dark cupboard slowly going stale.

‘Don’t we have a bag of cashew nuts in the back of our store cupboard?’ said my girlfriend.

I tried to think back to the last time I’d used a cashew. ‘Erm, I think we might,’ I replied. Vague memories of toasting and grinding cashews to top a Phad Thai back in the Summer came to mind.

I went to check.

She was right. It appeared I’d bought a rather ambitious kilo of them after we returned from Thailand last August, no doubt purchased in a fit of enthusiasm and a desire to recreate some of the great food we had whilst on holiday.

But there was still a vast quantity left. ‘I’m going to make this,’ she said, pointing to a recipe for cashew nut butter. I nodded an approving nod, made a positive noise and watched her bound into the kitchen.

After a few minutes and much noise, she returned with a teaspoonful of what looked like peanut butter, only the colour of clotted cream.



It was delicious, especially over the remainder of the oatcakes I made last week.


Cashew Nut Butter (after HFW)

200g unroasted and unsalted cashew nuts
3-4 tablespoons of rapeseed or groundnut oil (we didn’t have either so used sunflower oil instead. It worked just fine)
1-2 tablespoons of runny honey
a pinch of salt.

Mix this lot together in a food processor until you have a creamy paste and there you go. It should keep for about a week in a sealed and refrigerated container.


Live Blogging
In other news, tomorrow will see my first attempt at ‘live blogging’.

I’ve been invited by the good people at the Miele Experience Centre to go and try out some of their gadgetry and learn how to rustle up some quality Irish fayre in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

I’ll be posting throughout the day from about 11am. Just drop by from then to follow what’s going on.

Alternatively, follow me on Twitter.

*Currently cooking to the sounds of Handsome Devil by Jim Bianco. Excellent debut from the gravel voiced Hotel Cafe resident. Snippets of sleazy prohibition era Americana, delicious ballads and some cheeky dittys thrown in for good measure. Also excellent live. 8.5/10