From the kitchen of The Beehive’s Clumsy Cook – Walnut Pesto

We love to eat here at Casa MB and since I got such a great response to our recent ribollita recipe, I thought that from time to time – I would post some of my personal favorites that Steve whips up in our kitchen.

Walnut pesto is simple, quick and easy to make – so simple that even I, the incompetent chef, have made it successfully for our daughters.  It’s a crowd-pleaser for the whole family.

You’ll need the following ingredients:

a large handful of shelled walnuts

half or 1 clove of garlic (depending on how garlicky or not you like things)

a piece or two of stale bread

about 1/4 cup or 50ml of milk (you can substitute this with rice or soy milk)

a handful of parmigiano cheese

olive oil

Put all of these ingredients into a blender.  Not sure exactly how much oil to put in – probably about 1/4 cup / 50ml.   Blend.

Boil the pasta.  You can use a variety of pasta – in this version we used fresh sedanini pasta.  We have also used whole wheat spaghetti or farro (spelt) spaghetti.  It works well with a thinner variety of pasta and not a thicker one.

This photo has nothing to do with walnut pesto other than the fact that our dog, Goji, was keeping Steve company in the kitchen.

Once the pasta is cooked, check the pesto.  If it’s thickened up a bit, add a smidge of the pasta water and blend again.

Mix in with the pasta.  If it doesn’t seem to be mixing in very easily, add a bit more oil to help it blend better.

And voila!  Accompanied by a salad, this makes an easy and delicious lunch or dinner when you are low on time or energy.

If you have any leftover, but not enough to make another batch of pasta – it also works very nicely as a bruschetta  – just toast some crusty style bread and spread on.