Every household needs some good basic food staples. I know that I feel a lot calmer when I know that I have a few versatile and nutritious stand-by items in our fridge and pantry for  those very busy days or weekends, where we are barely home long enough to eat a proper meal let alone prepare one from scratch. The secret, as many of you would know, is in prepping when you do have a bit of extra time. I try to do my grocery shopping ( or at least veggies) when I know that I’ll have a bit of time over the next day or so to capture that market freshness into staples that will come to our rescue. Although like everyone, I still occasionally am caught out and realise by the look of the flexible (!!!) carrot or (naturally!!) wilting greens that I’d certainly missed the use-by date. Sometimes they’re ok for a stew or casserole. If not, I wash and throw them into the freezer into a bag that I keep of organic vegetable peelings, carrot tops and veggie ‘seconds’ which I use when I make up a fresh batch of veggie, chicken or beef broth.

Which brings me to the subject of pesto. I love it and have as far back as I can remember.There is nothing complicated about it at all and the wonderful thing about it, it is so versatile. You can use it traditionally as a pasta sauce (if gluten-free then with zoodles), spread for toast (I’ve used it as a school lunch spread by itself or with some protein like chicken or beef), dip for crackers or crudités when you have friends drop by for drinks, as a relish for steaks or dolloped on your poached eggs for breakfast.You can make it as thick or thin as you like, although I do prefer it ‘chunky’ as its much easier to thin it out on the spot with some extra olive oil, if you so wish, rather than the other way around.

The traditional recipe calls for pine nuts, which are delicious but when living overseas, I found quite expensive. So I started using almonds, which were cheaper. However, developing food allergies a few ago I started experimenting with other nuts and seeds, (almonds and I weren’t the best of friends). Anything I could eat without my skin flaring was great in my eyes. And it turned out the nuts I best tolerated were the ones that are touted by nutritionists as to having the best omega-3/6 ratio and consequently less inflammatory: macadamias and walnuts. I prefer the macadamias in pesto as it has a more neutral flavour and when nice and thick is almost ‘cheesy’. When basil is out of season, I’ve used parsley and coriander too. Use what’s on hand. The formula that you can then tweak is simple;

Nuts and/or seeds+fresh green herbs+garlic+EV olive oil (the quality is important)+S&P

= HAPPINESS IN A JAR (aka meal ready in about 5 minutes)

For those who like a bit more guidance though, here’s the recipe and method.

Ingredients

• 1 good cup of macadamia nuts (roughly 150g)
• 1/3 cup (activated) sunflower seeds
• a few garlic cloves (the amount is entirely up to you. As it’s raw garlic I increase the amount to make the most of its anti-viral /-biotic/-parasitic properties but you may choose not to)
• 1 generous bunch basil
• roughly 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

 

Method

1. Wash ( and spin dry) basil leaves (I save my basil stalks to pop under veggies when roasting for extra flavour or for my green juices for variety).
2. Place nuts, seeds and garlic cloves in food processor and pulse until reduced to a thick ‘crumb’ (don’t over-process).
3. Add salt, pepper, basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil ( a few good dashes. This is enough to reduce the ingredients and then you can judge whether you would like a thicker or thinner pesto).
4. After assessing the pesto, you’ll probably need to scrape down the sides for a few stray basil leaves. If the consistency is too thick, add some more olive oil and pulse until happy with it.
5. Store in glass container (in fridge or freezer) or bowl if using soon. (I keep my old French St Dalfour and Bonne Maman jam jars as they are fabulous for storing dips, preserves and bone broth. Because they have to withstand very high temperatures in the jam-making process they are my go-to recycled containers for storage in the freezer.They’ve never shattered on me, unlike other brands). Having said this though, it will last quite a while in the fridge and even longer if you remember to add a dash of olive oil in between ‘use’. Although I’ve never really had to as it goes so quickly.

 

On that note, I’ve remembered some herbs I bought yesterday with some pesto in mind and I can hear them calling me. If you’ve enjoyed this recipe or have any questions, please contact me and if you’d like to receive more recipes in your inbox please subscribe at the bottom of my home page. Thank you.