Fresh Pesto

When it comes to fresh herbs, one of my favourite is Basil; I love the gorgeous aroma a fresh bunch gives off and the flavour when it's used in a dish. So naturally, I've always enjoyed Pesto, though until about 18 months ago, I'd never attempted to make my own. I found a decent recipe on the net, and it was really simple to make. After a few small adjustments I managed to perfect the recipe, so here we go.

This recipe makes up a fairly large portion, which is the perfect amount to stir through 500g of dried pasta. If you don't need the whole lot in one go, simply pop it in a sealed jar or pot and keep in the fridge. This is also really nice to use in a home made tear and share loaf, stuffing into a chicken breast, or spreading on a fillet of white fish.

Ingredients: 120g Fresh Basil 50g Pine Nuts 1 Large Clove of Garlic 80g Parmesan Shavings Ground Black Pepper Salt 125ml Olive Oil

Method:

1. Pull the leaves off of the basil. This can be a tedious job, and is the most time consuming of the whole process, but you'll have lovely fragrant fingers afterwards. Put all the leaves into a food processor and lightly pulse to chop it up a bit.
2. Add in the pine nuts, garlic and parmesan shavings (use shavings as it gives a better flavour and a better texture than grated), and blend for a minute.
3. Season with a generous pinch of black pepper and a little salt and mix.
4. With the motor running, add in the oil and process until you have a smooth paste. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Parmentier Potatoes

I've been brought up on home cooked meals, so I've not always been huge on shop-bought ready meals. However, I always enjoyed buying pre-made parmentier potatoes from the supermarket and I alwys thought them to be more hassle to make than enough, One day, however, one day I decided to bite the bullet and have a go at making my own version. The result was seven kinds of awesome and I've never looked back. Shop bought are nice, but these, for me, are on another level. Subsequently, this has become one of my favourite potato recipes, and I thought I'd share it with you.

Ingredients: 8 Medium Sized Potatoes 4-6 Slices Bacon Butter Olive Oil 20cm Sprig of Fresh Rosemary (Chopped) 1 1/2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Thyme Salt Pepper Grated Parmesan Cheese

Method:

1. Peel the potatoes, and cut them into 1cm cubes and place in a bowl of water to remove a little of the starch. Chop the Bacon into small chunks.
2. Melt a little butter and oil in a large, deep-sided saucepan and fry the bacon until cooked but not crispy. Remove from the pan and set to one side.
3. Melt some more butter (around about a 5-10 gram chunk) in the same saucepan with a little more oil for about five minutes.
4. Mix in the chopped herbs and season with a little salt (not too much as the butter and bacon will add a certain amount of salt content) and plenty of ground black pepper. Continue to fry the potatoes until they're softened and have begun to brown.
5. Next add in about 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese and return the bacon to the man. Mix thoroughly and remove from the heat.
6. Line a baking tray with some baking parchment and spread the potatoes across the pan in a single layer. Sprinkle with some more parmesan cheese to give an extra crisp.
7. Bake in the oven at about 180C for 20-30 minutes or until nicely browned and crispy. Make sure to shuffle the potatoes on the tray every now and again to ensure that they cook evenly and don't stick to the paper or burn.