Pesto

I am a firm believer that in its purest form, Pesto should follow the formula used in Genoese pesto of herb, nut, cheese, garlic and oil. A simple formula but one which allows for so many variations.

Herb. Traditionally it is basil that fills this role, but it could easily be any of the soft herbs like rocket, sage, parsely, thyme, oregano, spinach or a combination of.

Nut. Tradition again would be for the pine nut which like most nuts benefit from a little toasting to bring some flavour to the dish. Walnut, hazlenut, macadamia, almonds, cashew, in fact just about anything although not sure I could bring myself to use peanuts.

Cheese. The other great part of the formula. In reality the main requirement is that it is a hard, dry cheese with a strong flavour but not too overwhelming. Parmesan, romano, even vintage tasty.

Garlic and oil. Good quality of both but as they both play a more supporting role, you dont need the best. Walnut, truffle, macadamia, hazlenut, avocado, bran. All oil that work well in pesto although some like the walnut and truffle oils are quite strong so need to be cut with some olive oil lest they become two over powering.

Once the pesto is made, it can be used as a flavouring in soups, stews, on and in breads, dips, spreads and so on. One of the more interesting recipes I came across was for the Pesto Vinagrette which is a really clever way to use pesto, especially when such a little goes such a long way.