Summer Supper Pesto

Photo © Anne-Marie Minhall

It takes longer to wash the pots for this meal than it does to make it.

Linguine with Pesto.

It pleases me to wrap thin ropes of pasta around a fork & spoon & then to ensure I have plenty of whatever is its saucy companion on the plate. Sometimes there's an over ambitious amount attempted & it has to be reassembled. Sometimes it dribbles down my chin. Sometimes there are other cutlery endeavours ensuing & there's simply not enough to satisfy.

This evening, this is happening.

Into a food processor:

2/3/4 peeled garlic cloves

Plenty, plenty, plenty of fresh basil leaving a good few leaves to scatter onto your finished bowl

Palmful of chopped pine nuts or whatever's to hand. Tonight I've got hazelnuts in the cupboard

A couple of glugs of rapeseed oil 

Pulse just enough to make sure everything gets to know each other but the end result should not be too wet, not too dry. 

Pasta to boil 

Frying pan on a low heat & warm through your garlicky, nutty & basily (not a real adjective, I know) mix 

Linguine ready & a little of the cooking water goes into the frying pan to make your pesto complete & a little bit creamy

Add the pasta & stir till until every strand is coated 

To finish, squirts of lemon & those spare basil leaves

Bit of pepper

Glass of something chilled for your herbaceous meal.

AMM