Pesto Sauce

     This is a super easy recipe for pesto sauce. I made it with linguine (as pictured above) but you can use any type of pasta, or as a spread for crackers or bruschetta or anything else you fancy trying.

1 cup lightly packed, coarsely chopped, fresh basil
½ cup olive oil
½ cup parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper

     Start by rinsing the basil leaves, and dry off the excess water with a paper towel (this is really important). Then blend the basil and olive oil in a food processor until roughly mixed together. Add the rest of the ingredients and continue blending until the consistency of purée is achieved.
     Toss with pasta, use as a spread or anything else you'd like. Eat it with a spoon? Whatever you fancy. I like having pesto cold, so I refrigerate the sauce for a few hours before adding it to the dish. The excess can be covered and frozen for up to 3 months.

     Enjoy!

Peanut Noodles

     This is one of my favourite dishes. It's really easy and fast to make. It's also great cold and as leftovers.

500 g. linguini (or spaghetti)

2 Tbsp sesame oil

⅓ cup creamy peanut butter

¼ cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger (very optional)

¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2-3 chopped shallots

     Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente (approx. 13 minutes). Drain, toss with sesame oil.
     In a measuring cup or bowl, combine(whisk) peanut butter, soy sauce, wine vinegar, ginger and red pepper flakes. Toss with noodles. Gently toss in shallots.

     Serves 4.