Well christmas was mayhem at Chez Foti. Lots of friends and family guests, way too much food and good wine, late nights, plenty of doggie walks in the glorious (and surprisingly mild) sunshine and a couple of days of sledging in the Pyrenees. A fabulous time. And now the house is quiet, well as quiet as it gets with a two and a four year old and two chaotic doggies. Here’s hoping you all had a fab festive time and wishing everyone the very best for 2013.
I have to admit to very little on the cooking front since New Years Day. After weeks of pre-christmas freezer-filling baking and cooking it’s been a welcome break to gorge on the leftovers and eat simple pasta suppers. But I have been making plenty of my own pesto, which is ridiculously quick and simple to make. I’ve been using parsley instead of basil, and almonds instead of pine kernels, with fabulous results. My basil finished weeks ago in the garden but the Parsley’s still in happy abundance. And you really can’t beat a bowl of pasta served plainly and simply with lashings of homemade pesto. Though if you want to veg things up a little, as I always do, it’s wonderful with a handful or two of steamed french beans or courgette strips running through the pasta too.
Being of largely herby composition I’m entering my pesto to Lavender and Lovage’s Herbs on Saturday challenge, this month hosted by Vanesther at Bangers and Mash Chat.
Parsley & Almond Pesto
Enough for 4 servings:
40g of parsley, thick stalks removed, washed
a clove of garlic, finely chopped
40g of Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese
60g of whole almonds
75ml of good quality extra virgin olive oil
a squeeze of lemon juice
salt & pepper
Simply place all the ingredients, bar the lemon, salt and pepper in a food processor and whiz until you have a your desired pesto texture. I like mine fairly rustic with a few lumps and bumps. Or place all the ingredients in a bowl and blitz with a stick blender. Both work equally well. Taste and season with a little lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Et voila, you have super-quick super-tasty homemade pesto. Serve with pasta and/or veggies of your choice.
Bonne annnée everyone!
Chez Foti 
January 6th, 2013 at 8:24 pm
Great shots, beautiful colors!; I love that bowl!!
January 9th, 2013 at 7:07 pm
Thank you on all counts!
January 6th, 2013 at 8:51 pm
Will give that a try !
Love the bowl too !
January 9th, 2013 at 7:08 pm
Ah thanks, it’s definitely one of my favourite dinners at the min.
January 6th, 2013 at 9:03 pm
Mmmmm delicious! I love pesto but haven’t tried making it with parsely, but definitely will now I’ve seen your recipe. The combination of parsley with almonds sounds really good. And absolutely perfect for Herbs on Saturday – thanks so much for entering!
January 9th, 2013 at 7:10 pm
Thanks Vanesther. Parsley and almonds actually work really well together and I genuinely like it equally to the basil and pine kernel variety :). You should try it!
January 9th, 2013 at 10:48 pm
Right then, it’s going on next week’s meal plan. Can’t wait to give it a whirl! 🙂
January 6th, 2013 at 9:04 pm
[…] Parsley Pesto from Chez Foti […]
January 6th, 2013 at 9:57 pm
Good to hear you had a fun holiday – happy new year! You’re right, parsley pesto makes an nice change from basil. I sometimes add some mint leaves too – pinched the idea from a recipe for Sicilian pesto!
January 9th, 2013 at 7:11 pm
And Happy New Year to you!. I bet mint would work too, I’ll have a look to see if we have any that’s survived the frosts 🙂
January 6th, 2013 at 11:04 pm
Looks great, I love parsley in pesto too. I often use pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts – in fact, you must still have lots of these. Sounds like a great holiday. A very Happy New Year to you. Andrea
January 9th, 2013 at 7:13 pm
Now I hadn’t thought of using pumpkin seeds…..and yes I do have quite a few pumpkins left to chomp through. Thanks!
January 7th, 2013 at 12:14 am
Our parsley is currently growing great guns in the polytunnel, too, so I shall harvest some and try this out – thanks 🙂
January 9th, 2013 at 7:13 pm
Oh please try, it’s such a lovely pesto variation!.
January 7th, 2013 at 10:14 am
Happy New Year Lou!! Your crazy Christmas sounds as exhausting but wonderful as ours! I too am craving simple food right now and your pesto pasta looks right up my street. In fact I made a pesto with some Mache lettuce not too long ago which was also lovely and a bit different. You are so right that you can’t beat a good pesto 🙂 x
January 7th, 2013 at 12:15 pm
How lovely that you still have some fresh herbs to make pesto! I made a parsley and cranberry pistou for my turkey soup (made with leftovers) that turned out really well. This pesto looks delicious! Did the kiddies like it?
January 9th, 2013 at 7:16 pm
One of my littlies liked it (Master Jacques) but unfortunately his Big Sis wasn’t so impressed. She’s not a big pesto fan, but then she’s only recently started to eat lasagne and pizza, so maybe I can convince on the pesto soon too!
January 7th, 2013 at 9:12 pm
Happy new year! And it sounds like you had a great holiday. We adore pesto but I have yet to make it, I think this has just spurred me on. Yours looks delicious and I love the idea of parsley and almonds.
January 9th, 2013 at 7:17 pm
Oh you should try making it, so incredibly quick and it stores in the fridge or freezer a while too so can be made in bulk (though homemade pesto rarely lasts longer than 24 hours in our house!).
January 11th, 2013 at 3:03 pm
Gorgeous! I’m not a big fan of commercial pestos but homemade ones can be amazing and I particularly love ones like this that are a spin on the traditional. Which reminds me, I really need to post the recipe for my spinach and walnut one……
January 11th, 2013 at 3:06 pm
Ah thanks, I so love a homemade pesto, and always ridiculously easy to make. Spinach and walnut, sounds really interesting. Think you should post!
January 13th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Happy New Year and what a great entry for herbs on Saturday! Lovely to see you back again and I hope your book arrived! Karen
January 14th, 2013 at 12:56 pm
Ah thanks Karen, the book did indeed arrive but I’m so sorry I’ve somehow managed to not thank you for it. It’s a gorgeous book full of wonderful recipes that no doubt I’ll be trying plenty of very soon!
February 1st, 2013 at 3:44 pm
[…] Parsley and Almond Pesto from Chez Foti […]
February 20th, 2013 at 11:49 am
[…] few weeks back, the lovely Chez Foti posted a gorgeous looking homemade parsley pesto recipe which got me thinking? Why have I never shared my homemade pesto recipes with […]