Today I’m sharing a recipe that’s almost always sat in my fridge these days, for when I want something fresh and tasty but don’t have a lot of time. Pesto is made up 5 components: a herb or vegetable of some kind, nuts, olive oil, garlic and cheese, traditionally mashed together in a mortar and pestle. The classic combination is basil, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic and parmesan, but you can really get creative within these categories. Today we’re doing a prep-friendly sun-dried tomato recipe with maximum flavour.

INGREDIENTS

Basil

Sun-dried tomatoes (from a jar – be sure to save the oil for future recipes)

Italian hard cheese (parmesan, pecorino or a rennet-free alternative)

Olive oil

Pine nuts

Garlic

Salt and pepper for seasoning

TIPS

I personally like to oven roast the garlic and pine nuts in order to release a sweeter, less pungent flavour, though you don’t have to if you’re in a rush.

I avoid overly-seasoning the pesto itself, as I use this to add into recipes; for example pasta will be cooked in salty water and if I add it to cooked vegetables, they will already be seasoned. So, I recommend holding back on the salt and pepper and adjusting their once you’re cooking with your pesto.

Traditionally pesto is made in a mortar and pestle, but it’s hard work and you’d need a pretty big mortar to fit in all these ingredients (if you go with this method, make sure you grate the cheese finely beforehand and chop the sun-dried tomatoes into smaller pieces). I instead prefer to use a food processor with small pulses to keep that texture in the pesto.

I store this in an empty jar in my fridge and it’s good for up to a week.

PESTO 3 WAYS

To show how versatile this pesto is (making it a life-saver on busy weeknights!) with this jar of pesto, The I made two portions of three meals using it. These are just some examples but you can also use pesto to add a twist to feta eggs or even as a base for a home-made pizza.

To make this orzo, I fried a shallot and 2 cloves of garlic in butter over a medium heat, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, added some lemon juice, followed by my orzo. I gradually mixed in water until the orzo absorbed it all and was cooked through. I then toasted and crushed some pink peppercorns and added them, along with a little grated Italian hard cheese. I added my pesto, along with some double cream and chopped spinach. It was then served with more of the cheese and some fresh basil as a topping.

To make this tagliatelle, I cooked my pasta in salted water until it was al dente. I then saved a little pasta water and drained the rest. In a non-stick pan, I added my pesto and the pasta water along with some black pepper to make it a little more saucy. I then stirred in my tagliatelle until it was completely coated in sauce. I served this with a little Italian hard cheese as a topping and with a drizzle of basil-infused olive oil. Let me know if you want more detail on this but it’s pretty simple; I blended together two parts olive oil to one part basil and then simmered it over a low heat for 15-20 minutes then used a sieve to separate out the remaining basil from my infused oil.

For my final dish, I cooked some fusilli, drained it off and rinsed it until cool. I then mixed in my pesto to coat the pasta and served with fresh rocket, a lemon segment, grated Italian hard cheese and toasted pine nuts.

Let me know if you try my pesto and if you do, what you end up using it for!