Homemade Pesto...and a pasta recipe too!

What is pesto?? Everyone loves it but few know what's actually in it and it tastes sooo much better when you make it yourself and will take you seconds!!

For the pesto:

75 g2¾ oz rocket
75 g2¾ oz baby spinach
75 g2¾ oz basil
75 g2¾ oz mint
2 garlic cloves, minced on a grater
120 g4¼ oz mixed nuts such as peanuts, salted cashews and pistachios
150 ml5¼ fl oz olive oil
½ lemon
Black pepper, to taste

Pesto usually uses pine nuts but they are expensive so go with whatever you have at home! It also usually has parmesan in but as you will see later in the recipe we have left it out of this stage so that it lasts a lot longer in the fridge and have mixed it up with a bit of feta instead.

To make the pasta dish:

2 rashers of bacon
1 courgette, peeled into long, thin strips
300 g10½ oz dried pasta shells or conchiglie pasta if you can find it
100 g3½ oz feta, crumbled (could also use goats cheese or mozarella)

Method: 

1.    Cook the pasta shells in lightly salted water according to the packet instructions. Stir the pasta once at the start of cooking to prevent sticking.

2.    Heat a griddle, or a non-stick frying pan, and dry fry the bacon until crispy on both sides. Once crisp, remove and drain then add the peeled courgette strips to the same pan and griddle for a couple of minutes to colour and crisp up but be careful not to burn them.

3.    Meanwhile, PESTO RECIPE: add in the herbs, leaves, minced garlic and nuts into a blender and squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Blitz until roughly combined, then gradually pour in half of the olive oil and blitz into a paste consistency. Add the rest of the olive oil.

4.    At this stage you can transfer the pesto to a sealable container and store in the fridge until needed. It should keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge. If you dont add the cheese at this stage it keeps for a lot longer!

5.    Drain the pasta and place into a bowl. Pour the pesto on top and crumble over the feta cheese. Mix together so the pasta is well covered and the pesto collects in the pasta shells. Transfer to a serving bowl.  

6.    Chop the bacon into small pieces and scatter over, along with the griddled courgette strips. Squeeze over some more lemon juice and drizzle with a little olive oil, then serve.