After Basil pesto take 1, I can see why anyone would be skeptical that Basil pesto take 2 would ever occur. I myself wasn’t expecting it to happen any time soon. But when you have a soup recipe that calls for 1/4 cup of basil and the supermarket will only sell you a gigantic bundle of basil, you gotta do what you gotta do.
One rainy Sunday afternoon, when I could no longer bear the thought of the herbs slowly biodegrading in my vegetable drawer, I decided it was time to get back on the horse. And you know what? I did it! Without cutting off a finger, or even breaking skin at all!
Basil pesto: Take 2
2 cups basil, roughly chopped
1/4 cup coriander, roughly chopped
1 cup grated hard cheese (I used Parmesan)
3 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
pinch of salt
pinch dried lavender (optional)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp raw pinenuts
Process basil, coriander, cheese, garlic, salt, olive oil and lavender in a food processor till they become a paste
Add pinenuts and process until mixed in, add more olive oil if it looks too dry
The addition of coriander and lavender was an invention of necessity as I had dodgy-looking coriander to use and the only salt I could find was lavender infused. These are optional, but delicious.
This took me 5 minutes. It is great. It saved me spending $5 on crappy supermarket pesto. But most importantly, this was a dish made without any blood, sweat or tears.
A Day In The Food 