HOMEMADE PESTO

I love love LOVE pesto. I spent 3 months in Canada during the ski season eating just pesto and pasta. Needless to say, I was packing quite a few more pounds than I am currently. The pesto I ate during that fateful winter was store bought, and was without a doubt the oiliest food that I have ever consumed. As I became more health conscious over the years, I faced a conundrum – I wanted to continue eating pesto but I did not want the extra fat that went with it. Hence I have developed my own homemade pesto that is still delicious but has a much lower oil and fat content than others.

Ingredients 

• a generous bunch of fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
• 2 garlic cloves
• a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper 
• a blender or food processor. 

Cooking 

1. Place the garlic and pine nuts in a blender / food processor and whizz until the nuts are crushed. 

2. Add basil leaves and olive oil and whizz until combined and no leaves are visible. I use a blender and this process takes me around 5-10 minutes. It takes this long because of the small amount of oil used. I know that 1/4 of a cup of oil sounds like a lot, but trust me when I tell you that most pesto recipes use between 1/2 - 1 cup of oil! 

3.  Add parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to mixture. Whizz for a few seconds until combined. 

Serve on pasta, crackers, or whatever suits your fancy. Store for one week maximum in a fridge. 

 x E