Fresh peppery leaves, such as basil, rocket or nasturtium can form the base of a great home made pesto, you don't need to be a slave to Genoan tradition - native Italian, Squirrelface, even said he preferred this walnut type to the traditional made with pine nuts.
Garlic can be a contentious issue, with the peppery leaves you don't want too much of a punch in the mouth from excessive allium use, one fat clove is adequate without being over-powering.
I'm definitely an Italian hard cheese purist in the case of pesto, vegetarians can use the 'Italian style hard cheese', my insistence on the use of these cheeses is their ability to be grated finely without clumping - essential for a good rustic pesto.
I use a pestle and mortar here as I like to get my frustrations out and I prefer a more coarse textured pesto, smooth green gloop makes me think of soylent green. But use your food processor if you prefer a more uniform consistency.
I served the pesto with dried whole-wheat fusili and a handful of purple runner beans, from my parent's garden in France, which turn green on cooking. I chucked the sliced beans in halfway through cooking the pasta.
Walnut Pesto (with Purple/Green Bean and Fusili)
Serves 2
Half the leaves on a plant fresh basil
50g walnuts, chopped
1 fat garlic clove
25g hard Italian cheese (I used Gran Padano), finely grated
Glug olive oil
Glug walnut oil
Salt & pepper
Pulverize the garlic to a paste with salt in the pestle and mortar.
Crush the walnuts in to the garlic to form a coarse paste.
Add basil and pound until a light green.
Add cheese and mix.
Add a glug of each oil and incorporate until desired consistency is reached.
It stores well in an airtight jar in the fridge, make sure there's oil covering the top of the pesto.
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