Attendees at the Girl to Woman Festival – 18th January, 2015 will be in for a treat from the Café Nourish team. The Café will be full of yummy, nutritious foods with a communal café area to sit and enjoy your food in between presentations and activities on the day.
Below, Café Nourish Team leader, Hannah Flanagan shares with us an approach to making pesto, by being creative and getting a feel of how you want to make it at any given time, being inspired to express your own flavour with no rules in the kitchen. In the lead-up to the festival in January we will be sharing several recipes and fun tips from the Café Nourish team – stay tuned.
Below, Café Nourish Team leader, Hannah Flanagan shares with us an approach to making pesto, by being creative and getting a feel of how you want to make it at any given time, being inspired to express your own flavour with no rules in the kitchen. In the lead-up to the festival in January we will be sharing several recipes and fun tips from the Café Nourish team – stay tuned.
The Perfect Pesto – Your Way
Pesto can be so much more than the typical basil, pine-nut and parmesan sauce we’re all familiar with. It’s a great opportunity to get a delicious dose of nutrients from the fresh herbs, and healthy fats from the nuts and olive oil and I have found that the parmesan is not needed.
Firstly, the most important ingredient in any pesto is the willingness to get creative, to let go of your ideas of what pesto should be and to feel what your body needs (I use the above approach for all my cooking).
Do you want something super fresh and zingy? Try lots of herbs and lemon or lime
Richer and crunchier? Add more nuts and don’t blend too long
Silky smooth? Blend longer and add a bit more oil
A bit of a chilli kick?
The options are endless…
Basic Recipe
2 bunches fresh herb/s of choice (basil, parsley, coriander or a mix)
½ cup nuts of choice (experiment with pine-nuts, macadamias, almonds, seeds – toasting the nuts always adds another dimension)
½ cup Olive oil
Pepper
Add herbs and blend until broken down, add oil and nuts and pepper and blend till pesto reaches the consistency you prefer. You can also add lemon or lime juice, garlic, chilli or salt.
Or if you want to really get creative, try adding some greens to the mix. I recently experimented with substituting some of the herb content with some Kale – a variety called Cavalo Nero to be exact. It was WOW! More like a fresh herby green paste then your traditional oily pesto and was the perfect accompaniment for salmon.
Hannah says, “It’s about having fun and experimenting and finding what works for you.”
Stay tuned for future posts from the Café Nourish team on the G2W Blog.
Pesto can be so much more than the typical basil, pine-nut and parmesan sauce we’re all familiar with. It’s a great opportunity to get a delicious dose of nutrients from the fresh herbs, and healthy fats from the nuts and olive oil and I have found that the parmesan is not needed.
Firstly, the most important ingredient in any pesto is the willingness to get creative, to let go of your ideas of what pesto should be and to feel what your body needs (I use the above approach for all my cooking).
Do you want something super fresh and zingy? Try lots of herbs and lemon or lime
Richer and crunchier? Add more nuts and don’t blend too long
Silky smooth? Blend longer and add a bit more oil
A bit of a chilli kick?
The options are endless…
Basic Recipe
2 bunches fresh herb/s of choice (basil, parsley, coriander or a mix)
½ cup nuts of choice (experiment with pine-nuts, macadamias, almonds, seeds – toasting the nuts always adds another dimension)
½ cup Olive oil
Pepper
Add herbs and blend until broken down, add oil and nuts and pepper and blend till pesto reaches the consistency you prefer. You can also add lemon or lime juice, garlic, chilli or salt.
Or if you want to really get creative, try adding some greens to the mix. I recently experimented with substituting some of the herb content with some Kale – a variety called Cavalo Nero to be exact. It was WOW! More like a fresh herby green paste then your traditional oily pesto and was the perfect accompaniment for salmon.
Hannah says, “It’s about having fun and experimenting and finding what works for you.”
Stay tuned for future posts from the Café Nourish team on the G2W Blog.
