Basil pesto

I had the sincere joy of of prancing through a huge greenhouse of culinary herbs yesterday. And I picked a shopping bag full of deliciousness – mainly basil. All destined for pesto…

My pesto recipe isn’t a strict one. Basically, I chop a whole lot of basil, a couple of cloves of garlic and pinenuts by hand. I then add shaved parmesan, salt and olive oil. My amounts depend largely on how much I have at hand and what tastes right. It’s not so much the amount of each ingredient, but a really good balance and it will taste absolutely sublime.

I chop everything by hand, which takes more time, but is so worth it. It’s much easier to get quantities and texture just right. I really don’t like pesto made in a food processor. It tends to turn into green goo. Don’t get me wrong, it still tastes mighty fine – but hand-chopped looks better.

It takes about 30 minutes. All that added love, care and attention that goes into each tasty morsel is totally worth it!