A good friend of mine spoilt me terribly one evening making me Pesto Pasta with cherry tomatoes served with a steak. It was fantastic.  Since then I have made the pesto pasta and stirred in cooked french beans or asparagus and served it with chicken. Super quick to make and all the fresh flavour of the garden. I don’t believe you can beat Jamie Oliver’s recipe, I like the way he is not too fussy about quantities of ingredients. There is a link to Jamie’s website at the end of the post. But, here it is to save you the trouble of clicking.

Ingredients

• ½ clove garlic, chopped
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 3 good handfuls fresh basil, leaves picked and chopped
• 1 handful pine nuts, very lightly toasted
• 1 good handful Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small squeeze lemon juice, optional

• • Pound the garlic with a little pinch of salt and the basil leaves in a pestle and mortar, or pulse in a food processor. Add a bit more garlic if you like, but I usually stick to ½ a clove. Add the pine nuts to the mixture and pound again. Turn out into a bowl and add half the Parmesan. Stir gently and add olive oil – you need just enough to bind the sauce and get it to an oozy consistency.
  • Season to taste, then add most of the remaining cheese. Pour in some more oil and taste again. Keep adding a bit more cheese or oil until you are happy with the taste and consistency. You may like to add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end to give it a little twang, but it’s not essential. Try it with and without and see which you prefer.

• Read more at http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/pesto/#VHT9DbxDoQGeIRCR.99