I love pesto. All sorts of pesto. Green pesto red pesto or the Hakka pesto. Hakka pesto? Oh yea.. at times, I realized all nations are very similar in terms of their food and cooking skills. The Italian makes creamy pesto from nuts and herbs, so does the Chinese. My mom is a Hakka (河婆 to be more specific), and there's this traditional dish called lui cha (or translated as Thunder Tea rice) which I love love love!!, and it's also made from nuts (peanuts) and herbs (usually, Asian basil, mint and mugwort).
I used to lug back pesto sauces whenever I go travelling, the furthest was from Italy, and it's still residing in my fridge (I guess jarred sauces can last very long). But when I started making my own pesto sauces, I never gone back to eating jarred sauces, even if they are Italy! :p
I have waited for about 7 months before I can finally test nuts on the lil' fella (he's now 13mo). Nuts are so versatile, it would be gutted if he can't eat it. But hooray!! He's fine with it. And he loves this pesto sauce. This is usually steamed and served with mashed pumpkin and minced chicken with pasta. I also prepare this as his lunch at the nanny's.
Recipe:
1cup of organic cashew nuts, lightly toasted in an oven
about 1.5cup of virgin olive oil
2cup of basil leaves (I used Thai basil leaves, cos they are abundant in my garden)
dash of salt and pepper
1. Toast cashew nuts until it turns golden brown. (Do not burn them!)
2. In a blender, blitz cashew nuts with basil leaves, olive oil and season with salt and pepper. (You may blitz it till it turns really creamy or leave it with a little gritty texture).
3. Store in a glass jar and finish within 10 days (store in refrigerator).
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