Pesto | Veg Box Recipes with Basil & Tom’s

Pesto – a firm family favourite – is our third recipe for making the most out of your veg box (in collaboration with Basil & Tom’s, Acton’s wonderful community greengrocer). It’s so incredibly easy and quick to make yourself that I think it would take more time to run to the shop to buy a jar! Plus it’s so much more delicious when it’s homemade, keeps in the fridge for weeks, freezes well and is great for using up for any leafy greens you have lying around. A no brainer really!

Pesto

• You will need a small food processor or the large barrel of a nutribullet/ninja for this.
• Take any leafy greens and soft herbs that you have – winter and spring greens, kale, spinach, chard, cavolo nero, parsley and of course basil all work brilliantly.
• Fill your small food processor with your leaves/herbs – a good and cost effective ratio is two parts leaves and one part herbs – usually around three small handfuls in total.
• Add in one garlic clove, 2tbsp of a hard cheese like parmesan or pecorino, another 2tbsp of nuts/seeds (I like to mix it up and use hazelnuts with cavolo nero, for example), 2tbsp of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, the juice of half a lemon and some salt and pepper.
• Blitz till you have a homogenous green mass – I like to leave a little texture.
• Taste and adjust your seasoning and flavours – saltiness from the cheese, richness from the nuts/seeds, sharpness from the lemon and texture from the oil – it wants to be quite loose and oily.
• Once you are happy with it, pour into a clean jar and cover with a film of oil or freeze in ice cube trays for later use.

We ❤️ Basil & Tom’s

This first week of May 2019 we are exploring one of Basil & Tom’s fab weekly veg boxes and showing you how to use the contents in new and exciting ways, with loads of time saving tips and tricks to create a trove of delicious food to see you through the week and beyond – and ensure that you never waste a vegetable again.

We’ll be posting videos via our Instagram stories every day this week and you can find hints, tips, recipes and guidelines here on our blog and Basil & Tom’s website.

Follow the veg box magic at #BandTStories

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