Recipe for Basil Pesto: a great source of Vitamin K

Recipe for Basil Pesto: a great source of Vitamin K
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Today I want to give you this great recipe for basil pesto. It involves no cooking, it’s quick and easy to make, stores beautifully in the freezer and is a great source of Vitamin K.

Pesto originated from Genoa in Northern Italy around the 16th century, and traditionally consists of garlic, basil and pine nuts blended with Parmesan cheese and olive oil.

For this recipe ideally your basil will be home grown, as you can easily grow it in pots on a balcony or window sills if you don’t have a garden. It’s not fond of breezy environments and needs to be grown in a sunny place. Growing your own basil allows you the freedom to grow and pick as much as you like, when you like. In the UK you would generally germinate basil at the beginning of April and then harvest around early July through to the end of August.

If you live in a warmer climate than the UK, it can be grown most of the year round. It’s a great source of vitamin K but has many other vitamins and healthy minerals contained in it. Vitamin K is good for blood clotting, which aids the process of wound healing. It’s also suggested that Vitamin K may aid prevention of other diseases such as; heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, various types of cancer, and possibly even Alzheimer’s. Vitamin K is best consumed with fat as it aids absorption, so olive oil or rapeseed oil is a great accompaniment.

Disclaimer: Always consult with your GP before making any changes to your diet. Not to be eaten if you have a nut allergy.

In this recipe I’ve given you some ideas to supplement some of the ingredients to make it more cost effective. You can also make pesto from parsley, spinach and sundried tomatoes, so it’s extremely versatile. I promise you after tasting this recipe, you’ll never want to buy shop bought pesto ever again.

Basil Pesto recipe

2 cups (680g or 24 oz) fresh basil leaves (can supplement half the basil leaves with baby spinach)
1/2 cup (100g or 3.5 oz) freshly grated Romano or Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
3/4 cup (7fl oz) extra virgin olive oil or rapeseed oil.
1 ½ tablespoons of lemon juice (this stops the pesto from going brown)
Splash of water to help loosen the pesto
1/2 cup (170 g or 4 oz) pine nuts (can supplement pine nuts with cashew or walnuts or half sunflower seeds half pine nuts)
4-5 garlic cloves (depends on how much you like garlic)
Salt to taste
Chilli’s to taste if preferred (not essential)
 
Method
1/ Pick the leaves from the basil stalks, discarding the stalks for compost.
2/ Wash the basil leaves and remove excess water in a salad spinner or dampen down in kitchen towel or a tea towel.
3/ Place everything except the grated cheese in a food processor and whizz up until it forms a thick rich green paste. If you have a compact mini food blender then add equal amounts of each ingredient until it is all used up.
4/ Spoon the pesto into a bowl and mix in the grated cheese.
 
Divide and store in small airtight containers in the freezer until you need it. It should stay good in the freezer for 3 months. Be warned you may love it so much, it won’t last a week.
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Eat it on toast or with the traditional pasta. I like to stir it in to cooked, Spelt penne pasta, mushrooms and French beans for a quick and healthy meal. Traditionalists will tell you its best served with spaghetti, linguine, fusilli lunghi and vermicelli, as it clings well to the pasta. I find that it works equally well with pasta bows (farfalle) as well.
 
Stay happy and healthy and look out for my recipe for apricot jam.

Please retweet this on Twitter, sharing is caring. I would also love to hear what you thought about this recipe after making it, so please leave a comment. 

Julia
 

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