Almond Pesto

So, before I became OBSESSED with hummus, I was obsessed with pesto. And I still am. The best pesto I have ever had was from a little stall in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland. The guy had a strong accent, and a table full of pesto-wonderfullness. It was dark green, intensely flavoured, and beautifully oily. I dream about it sometimes.

The great thing about pesto is that it is incredibly simple to make as long as you have a food processor.  I really think that a decent food processor is an absolute must in any kitchen these days. I got mine at least 7-8 years ago and it is still going strong!

Interestingly it uses almonds instead of the more traditional pine nuts. But in my experience almonds are easier to find in a shop and usually cheaper. My next pesto attempt will be the more traditional pine nuts, and I have a feeling that I will have a lot of fun experimenting!.

Ingredients

• 1 big bunch of basil leaves
• 50g blanched whole almonds
• 35g parmesam
• 1 garlic clove
• Juice of ½ a lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method

Place all the ingredients plus 1 tbsp of the olive oil into the food processor and blitz until smooth. 

Add enough olive oil to adjust the texture to a smooth, drop-able consistency.

Serve! As you can see, my favourite way to serve pesto is on a pizza, so that’s exactly what I whipped it up for. The rest will be slathered over some pasta, or mixed in with hummus. SO MANY OPTIONS.