Basil Pesto

(serves 4 | 10 minutes | easy)

Learning how to make pesto at home helped me survive university. The secret behind a good pesto is the quality and freshness of the basil. It’s hard to share exact ingredients as this sauce relies heavily on personal taste and your eyes – to achieve the right texture. Hope this can help some of you! 

two handfuls of fresh basil leaves – extra virgin olive oil, to taste – grated parmigiano, to taste – 1 garlic clove – a handful of pine nuts – salt and pepper

  1. Place the garlic & pine nuts in a blender, pour in enough olive oil to cover the pine nuts and blend to achieve a thick paste. 
  2. Add the basil leaves, in batches if you don’t have much space, and blend until smooth, adding olive oil as you go. The sauce at this point should be quite thick, so don’t add too much olive oil. 
  3. Add a handful of grated parmigiano, blend and add more olive oil if necessary. Taste before adding a second handful of cheese – it all depends on how cheesy you like it! 
  4. Once complete, season with salt and pepper to taste and pour into a jar or use immediately to season pasta. If you’re placing it in a jar, top the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil, it will stop the sauce from oxidising.