January is a great time to make use of the abundance of fresh basil, a fragrant summer herb much loved by home cooks for its versatility.
One of the best known ways to use a big bunch of basil is to whiz up a batch of basil pesto.
It’s delicious stirred through pasta, either by itself of topped with more cheese or other additions like sliced chicken. The traditional way to serve pesto – on pasta – can be adapted with the inclusion of thinly sliced potatoes and green beans to make a Genovese pesto pasta.
Basil pesto is also a flavourful addition to salad dressings, dips and spreads.
Ingredients
40g pine nuts or walnuts, lightly toasted1 clove garlic, peeled60g (one large bunch) fresh basil, stems removed. Reserve one or two leaves for garnish.Juice of 1 lemon60-90ml (4-6 tablespoons) olive oil100g parmesan or pecorino cheese, gratedsalt and pepper to taste
Method
Reserve one quarter of the cheese for garnish then place the rest of ingredients to a blender or stick blender and blend to a fairly smooth paste, adding in olive oil until you reach the consistency you want. The texture you are aiming for as runny jam.
Stir together and season well with salt and a little pepper.
To make pasta pesto, the quantity above will be sufficient to serve 4 people, if you use 400g tagilatelle.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add some salt to the boiling water and add the tagliatelle. Cook for five or so minutes until the pasta is al dente, then drain in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water.
Toss the cooked pasta in a bowl with the pesto. Taste and season again, if necessary.
Add a little of the reserved pasta cooking water to moisten the sauce if it is still too thick. Serve sprinkled with the remaining cheese and garnish with fresh basil leaves. TIP: if you do not use home-made pesto within a few days, the top layer will go brown so either top with extra olive oil to seal the pesto or use within a day or two.
TIP: it may also be frozen: fill an ice-tray with pesto, and once frozen pop the frozen blocks into a plastic bag and store in the deep freeze for later use.