Pesto Inspiration - Kitchen Mojo

We love a pesto. Great for adding a pop of flavour to most things and great for using up stuff in the back of the fridge and, at this time of year, all the green goodies appearing in your garden, allotment and the shops.  

Some Favourite Pesto Combos

Here's some of our favourite combos:

• Nasturtium Leaves w Lemon, Breadcrumbs and Sunflower seeds - we made Nasturtium Leave Pesto with leaves from Sally at Langdon Garden for Friends of the Earth Lovely World Event and are doing it again for our Italian Feast
• Roast Peppers w Walnuts or Pumpkin Seeds & Lime juice
• Coriander, Parsley, Lemon, Garlic & Breadcrumbs
• Broad Bean w Feta or grated Ashmore Cheese and lemon and or mint
• Rocket & Sunflower Seeds
• Mint, Coriander, Spring Onion, Sesame Oil & Soy Sauce
• Stilton, Walnut & Spring Onion
• Fresh Mint, Pea and Spinach - avocado also works in this one if you're trying to hide extra veg for kids. For our holiday club meals for kids we make this and it goes down a treat with pasta.  

The basic instructions are always the same - pop all your base ingredients except bread crumbs into a blender, add olive oil (or another oil of your choice), a pinch of salt, a crushed clove of garlic if you want to.  Turn the blender on and blend into a pesto. Add breadcrumbs if you are using and give them a quick whizz. Add more oil, lemon juice and salt to taste. 

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are a great substitute for nuts. They're cheaper and a way of using up excess bread.  We keep a bag of breadcrumbs in the freezer so we can grab a handful when we need them but any bread will work (except the green stuff at the bottom of the bread bin).  Sourdough and Malted Grain give a nuttier flavour and texture that we prefer.  Sunflower and Pumpkin seeds also give a great flavour.  

Have A Go

The main thing is to have a go - if you treat it as a tasty experiment you literally can't go wrong.

Put Your Pesto On Everything

Once you've made your pesto don't limit it to pasta

• Drizzle it on new or roast potatoes
• Spread it on toast
• Go posh and call your toast bruschetta
• Use it as a dip
• Add it to hummous or cream cheese
• Mix it into white beans, tomatoes or roast peppers and rocket for a delicious salad
• Top pizzas
• Use it to add a pop of colour wherever you need it

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