Pesto Sauce

Recipe from She Cooks

Ingredients:

• 3-6 cloves garlic, peeled (depending on how much you love garlic)
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, stems removed
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Put garlic, basil and pine nuts in a blender and process for 30 seconds. Slowly drizzle olive oil into the blender while processing for about two minutes or until smooth and the desired consistency. Stir in the cheese.
Variations:
You can pretty much make about any type of pesto you want. You can use lots of different greens/herbs and just about any nut. Here’s a short list to get you started:
Greens/herbs:
Basil
Mint
Cilantro
Arugula
Parsley
Nuts:
Pine Nuts
Walnuts
Macadamia Nuts
Almonds

Mint tabbouleh...

A wonderful summer salad which is ready in minutes...
Cook couscous, bulgur wheat or quinoa as per directions: an inch of water above the grain in a microwaveable dish, then ten - twenty minutes usually does it, leaving it to stand for another ten minutes.
Mix cooled cooked grain with huge handfuls of chives (or spring onions for a stronger flavour) and mint, finely chopped - a food processor is best - until the salad looks quite green.
Stir in a quantity of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Lemon meringue, lemon ice cream and lemon sorbet

Lemon meringue ice cream - the BEST.
Whip 570 ml double cream.
Fold in 1 tin condensed milk.
Fold in half - three quarters of a jar of lemon curd and a large handful or two of crushed meringue pieces.
Freeze.
Simply YUMMY.

Lemon ice cream

Zest 1 unwaxed lemon and place in a saucepan with the juice of 2 lemons (you need about 75ml). Add 500ml whole milk, 500ml double cream and 250g golden caster sugar and simmer over a medium heat for 15 mins. Pour into a chilled metal bowl and leave to cool. Then churn in an ice-cream maker until frozen. Spoon into a container and freeze until needed.

Lemon sorbet:

Put 100g sugar  into 300 ml orange juice.  Bring to boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Cool. Freeze, stirring every hour to break up ice crystals.

Orange or lemon polenta cake

Give your dessert an Italian flavour with this moist and fruity polenta cake

Recipe uploaded by

Good Food

Difficulty and servings

Serves 8 - 10

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 20 mins

Cook 45 mins

Ingredients

• 250g unsalted butter
• 250g golden caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 140g polenta
• 200g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• zest and juice 2 oranges (less 100ml juice for the glaze)
• Glaze
  • 100ml orange juice
  • 100g golden caster sugar

• Smaller cake:
• 6oz unsalted butter
• 6oz golden caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 4oz polenta
• 5oz plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• zest and juice 2 oranges (less 100ml juice for the glaze)
• Glaze
  • 100ml orange juice
  • 100g golden caster sugar

1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Line the base and sides of a round 23cm cake tin with baking parchment. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly. Once the mixture is combined, add all the dry ingredients and the zest and juice after you have measured off 100ml for the glaze.
2. Transfer the mixture to the tin, spread evenly, then cook for about 45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
3. To make the glaze, put the juice and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Let it simmer for 5 mins, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. Drizzle the orange glaze over the top of the cooled cake. Serve with creme fraiche/fromage frais/Greek yogurt/ lemon ice cream.

This is a BBC Good Food recipe: My alternative glaze: icing sugar dissolved into lemon juice, simmered for a couple of minutes in the microwave.