Pesto's & Dips

Just remember there is more to life than ketchup.... Hence this blog post .

Summer Basil Pesto

This makes about 200ml, If you want you can substitute the basil for wild garlic or rocket.

What you will need

• 110g fresh basil leaves
• 150ml extra virgin olive oil
• 25g pine kernels
• Two garlic cloves
• 50g of freshly grated parmesan
• Salt and black pepper

But the basil, olive oil, pine kernels , garlic and grated parmesan into the food processer and blend until smooth, Season, That's it!

Coriander and Goats Cheese Pesto

What you will need

• 150g fresh coriander
• 150ml of extra virgin olive oil
• 25g pine kernels
• 50g softened goats cheese
• 50g freshly grated parmesan
• Pinch of salt

As the same method above simply put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.

 Sundried Tomato Pesto

• 100g sun dried tomatoes
• Two garlic cloves
• 75g grated parmesan
• 30g pine nuts
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil

Simply blend in the food processor!

Cool Cucumber and Yoghurt Dip

• Half a cucumber , seeds removed
• Half a teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 150ml natural yoghurt
• One tablespoon of freshly chopped coriander

When you remove the seeds from the cucumber simply chop into a small dice, Toast the cumin seeds on a dry frying pan for about 30 seconds , set aside.
Mix in the cumin seeds, yoghurt , cucumber and fresh coriander in a bowl.

Easy homemade curry paste

Korma Paste

You will need

• Two cloves of garlic
• A thumb sized piece of fresh ginger grated, 'but what if i have small thumbs'...
• Half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• One teaspoon of garam masala
• Half a teaspoon of sea salt
• Two tablespoons of groundnut oil
• One tablespoon of tomato puree
• Two fresh green chillies, finely chopped
• Three tablespoons of desiccated coconut
• Two tablespoons of ground almonds
• A small bunch of freshly chopped coriander
• Two teaspoons of cumin seeds
• One teaspoon of coriander seeds

Simply toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry frying pan, tossing them around for about 30 seconds, And grind in a pestle and mortar.
Simply in a food processer or a large pestle and mortar grind down all the ingredients until a paste has formed.
Simple but effective
Enjoy

Cherry Cheesecake Marbled Brownies

What you will need

• 300g of soft cream cheese at room temperature
• 300g of caster sugar
• Two eggs, beaten plus 3 extra
• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g dark chocolate
• 75g of plain flour, sifted
• 200g fresh cherries , stoned and halved , plus extra for some garnish if you would like

Preheat the oven to 180, Grease and line a 25cm square baking tin and line with baking paper.
Beat the soft cheese with 75g of the caster sugar until just combined, then beat in the two eggs, allow to chill for 10 minutes just to stiffen up slightly.
Meanwhile melt the butter and the chocolate in a heatproof mixing bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, but do not allow the water to touch the bowl, stirring continuously until smooth and glossy looking, set aside and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Stir the remaining caster sugar into the chocolate mixture , gradually beat in 3 extra eggs, one by one , then mix in the flour and fold in until a smooth batter forms.
Pour a thin layer of chocolate mixture into the prepared tin to coat the entire base , dollop spoonful's of the cheese mixture , the pour on the remaining chocolate mixture and top with dollops of the cheese mixture, using the handle of a wooden spoon swirl the spoon around to create a marbled effect.
Scatter over the cherries and bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until you put the knife into the centre and it comes out clean.
It should have a slight wobble.
Place on a wire rack tray and leave to cool, should take about 20 minutes, Hard Yes!
Cut into even squares, I get roughly about 20 small squares, Serve with some chopped fresh cherries and some vanilla ice cream .
Enjoy X