We Love Cooking!:
pesto

Well I did think my plan to have a party on Saturday night, based purely on drinking Mohito's, was good one, however it's now Monday and my head still hurts. After not drinking for almost two months, the alcohol had me in a pretty bad way, and the drinking games most certainly did not help! (Damn you Paulie!) But I have to say the one thing that tickles me pink about having people over, is making dainty party food! It can come in so many different forms, a large sit down meal, a buffet style banquet, and even my favourite, finger food. Entertaining for me has to be easy, it has to be quick, and it's gotta be tasty! I have some more recipe's from Saturday night but here is just one of the quick snacks I came up with:

Basil Pesto with Roasted Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes on Toast

For the Pesto:

1. One large handful of basil leaves.
2. One large handful of pine nuts.
3. 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
4. One large handful of grated Parmesan Cheese.
5. A good sprinkle of Sea Salt and freshly ground Pepper.

For the Roasted Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes:

1. Two punnets of Cherry Tomatoes.
2. 2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
3. 1 tbsp of Balsamic Vinegar.
4. 1 tbsp of Dried Oregano.
5. A pinch of Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper.

To finish the dish, toast slices of good hearty bread under the grill, and allow to cool. Spread the pesto generously on the bread, and add a few of the cherry tomatoes on top. Garnish with an extra sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and serve! Delicious!

I've been planning to experiment with this for a while, ever since the girlfriend dropped the bombshell that she was allergic to both soya and nuts (I think I mentioned that before?).

Pesto is one of those food items that seemed like it had never been heard of before it became popular and reminds me of a chapter in Nigel Slater's "Toast" where he describes his father bringing home spaghetti for the very first time, and how strange the whole family felt eating this odd foreign food.

Pesto for me was the same, I first tasted it on toasted french bread with sun dried tomato at one of my mother's dinner parties when I was younger, and from that moment I fell in love! Pesto was smothered on toast for breakfast, heavily mixed in spaghetti for lunch, and every other combination I could come up with.

Pesto is considered one of the oldest oily sauces in culinary history. It's classic ingredients are Basil, Salt, Garlic, Olive Oil, and Parmesan cheese. I did a bit of research on Pesto and there is a non nut variety deriving from France where it is called Pistou, the ingredients are Basil, Olive Oil and garlic only. I love the nutty flavour so wanted to recreate it and here's what I came up, now this is hardly radical but here it is:

Nut Free Pesto

1. 3 Cloves of Garlic
2. 1/3 cup of Mixed seeds (Sunflower, pumpkin, sesame etc.)
3. 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
4. 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
5. 3 Handfuls of fresh Basil

Pesto is so easy to make, peel the garlic cloves and bash them with the back of a knife, put in a food processer with the seeds, cheese and basil. Blitz for about 30 secs depending on what consistency you want. I drizzle the oil in bit by bit but that's just me, you can just add in once you have the rest of the ingredients in a paste.

Serve straight away or put in a container with olive oil poured on the top. IT'S LIKE SOOO EASY!