Walnut Pesto (with Purple/Green Beans & Fusili)

Cheap store bought, or even upmarket brands of fresh pesto have become less appealing the further we come form the 1990s. Once as bohemian and middle class as houmous, now you get pesto topped houmous, this craze has to stop. can all be used

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.

Lazy Bastard's Carbonara

Squirrelface is washing up twice this evening.

We went out for our friend Charlotte's birthday last night and had some lovely IPA from The Montpelier on Choumert Road, too much lovely IPA... We didn't get to bed until 02:00 after an ill advised 'all back to mine' moment. We then still tried to watch an episode of Mad Men, and failed.

I managed to get to work on time and amused myself looking at the Wikipedia page for Maria Callas, Squirrelface didn't get out of bed until noon, the lazy student. So now I'm feeling a bit sleepy, I want to curl up and watch that episode of Mad Men and eat something involving carbs, bacon and cheese. Squirrelface, being Italian, immediately suggested carbonara, what could be better or tastier in this instance? Plus with him there it allows for a sense of authenticity, but opens me up to stark criticism.

I call it a Lazy Bastard Carbonara because I'm a lazy bastard today but not lazy enough for a ready meal and this takes less than 20 mins from apron to first bite. It harks back to my student days when I'd make bacon and egg pasta, carbonara without Parmesan, i was particularly lazy and hung over a lot back then.

For all you fact fans out there, carbonara gets its name form the amount of black pepper used in the original conception of the recipe... LOTS!

Lazy Bastard's Carbonara

1 or 2 packs of pancetta/lardons (smoked or unsmoked is up to you, i like smoked)

3 eggs plus one egg yolk

50g Parmesan finely grated

250g long pasta (we're using linguine)

Black pepper to taste (don't be shy)

Get a big pot of water to the boil and chuck in a big pinch of salt, put the pasta in the pan and put a lid on. It should take around 10 mins.

Meanwhile fry the pancetta/lardons in a super hot pan to begin with and then turn the heat down after 3-5 mins and let the fat melt out of them.

Mix the eggs, egg yolk, Parmesan and black pepper together with a fork.

Once the pasta is cooked throw it in the pan with the bacon and toss. Turn off the heat and throw in the egg mixture and toss again.

Serve in warm, slightly tattered pasta bowls you've had for over 10 years.