Pesto is great. Its so flexible. You can add different herbs for different flavours. It’s traditionally made with pine nuts, but they’re pretty expensive, so I substituted toasted walnuts. You can add whatever kind of nuts you like. You can serve it on pasta, meat, chicken or fish. Use it as a base sauce for pizza. Add it to rice to punch up a side dish. Add lots of garlic, or just a little. It’s all about your preference.
Serves 4-6
Prep 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup toasted walnuts
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation
- Add Basil, garlic, olive oil, walnuts, and salt and pepper to a mini blender (the type used for making individual-sized smoothies). Blend until smooth. Allow to sit for a bit for flavours to develop while you prepare the rest of your ingredients. If you don’t have a mini blender, you can use a full-sized blender but you may want to double the recipe as this quantity may not blend well in a larger jug.
- Cook pasta according to package directions, using the minimum cook time given. Drain and rinse pasta with cold water to stop the cooking process. Allow it to dry a bit in the colander. If it’s too wet, the pesto won’t adhere.
- Cut cooked chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.
- Add tortellini and chicken to a large serving bowl. Pour pesto over all and mix with a large spoon until everything is well coated.
Tips
- It is traditional to have Parmesan in the pesto, but because I am lactose intolerant we keep it out and let the people who want it add it themselves. This also keeps the sauce vegan, so it is a good, all-purpose, all people recipe.
- If you want some heat, sprinkle red pepper flakes over top, or, if everyone likes it, add them right in the pesto blender. I like some heat, but I actually find with the peppery taste of the basil and the heat of the raw garlic, I never miss the red pepper.
- If you double the recipe, keep the remaining pesto in the fridge and try to use it within 2 weeks.
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