Quick & Easy Recipe: Home Made Pesto.

Pesto is so damn simple and gratifying.  Follow the easy recipe below.

Homemade Pesto in a Pestle & Mortar

• Half a Clove of Garlic
  
• Handful of Pine Nuts
  
• Handful of Parmesan, finely grated.
  
• Big bunch of Basil, 400g should do
  
• Salt & Pepper
  
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  
• Lemon Juice (optional)
  

(Invest in a good Pestle & Mortar, one made of stone or even those fancy ones made of hardened lava, I bought a cheap wood one that has a smell of its own and likes to sprinkle splinters around, it's horrible.)

Lightly toast the pinenuts, but don't brown them or the flavour will overpower, this way you get a slight nutty sweetness out of them.

Mince the Garlic with a little salt and the basil in a pestle and mortar, add olive oil as an when you need it for texture.  Add the nuts and keep working it, add the parmesan and oil.  Add salt & pepper to taste.

Spoon into freshly made spaghetti.  Enjoy.

TIP: To make your meal a little more lush, crumble some ricotta on top of the pesto-incorporated spaghetti before serving.  You'll thank me later.