Who Is The Superhero In Your Fridge/Cupboard?

Everyone has their special SUPERHERO in their fridge or cupboard. This superhero saves the day

- when a hungry motley crew hungry marauders invade your kitchen. For some, it could be tomato sauce, chicken goujons, pizza, pasta ....for me, my fridge superhero is the Pesto!

What's so special about the pesto? For me, it's that blend of unami, creamy, nutty sweet all rolled into one. Which is what makes it so versatile that it can be

- stirred into pasta,

- be served as a sauce for meat/fish/tofu,

- be used as the binding agent for meatballs or arancinis,

- stirred into a white risotto,

- served with avocado on toast

- served as a dip for crudités & many more.

There are many recipes out there for pesto as is there are many different variations of pesto - basil pesto, kale & hazelnut, broccoli & pine nut etc. It's rather tricky to try & remember different recipes for all of them.

I adopt a simple formula which makes it easy for me to create any pesto out of the ingredients I have in my kitchen.

Nuts : Leaves : Cheese : Oil + Garlic (optional)

1/4 : 1/2 : 1 : 1

e.g.

Nuts : Leaves : Cheese : Oil + Garlic

25g : 50g : 100g : 100ml + 1clove

It works everytime!

If you're in a hurry, use a food processor to chop the garlic, nuts & leaves. Then I would stir-in the grated cheese & oil, season to taste & use.

If you have emotions to vent or , you simply prefer the traditional way, you can use a pestle & mortar. Pound the nuts & garlic to a creamy consistency, before adding the leaves. Once you have have added the leaves, using a grinding action to break it down. Then stir-in the grated cheese & oil at the end. Season to taste.

In the pictures above, I made my pesto with kale, pine nuts & gruyere. I served it with pasta, bacon, courgette & kale.

It's really easy & freshly made pesto tastes much more delicious! If you do give it a try, let me know what you pair with your pesto with and how you use it.