BROCCOLI PESTO

I got up 10 minutes earlier than usual to take these photos so I could squeeze them on the blog this week; dedication or what!? I quite like the shadows cast by the early morning light, though. This meal does what it says on the tin: it's pesto, made with broccoli. It takes about 15 minutes to knock up and it's equal parts hearty and comforting, yet light. It's pretty cheap too!

Ingredients to serve 4
1 head of broccoli
3 cloves garlic (or more, if you like - I do!)
50g parmesan or gran padano cheese, grated
Handful of basil leaves
50g pine nuts, toasted
Lemon
Olive oil
Salt and peper to taste
500g shell pasta

Tear or cut the broccoli into florets and discard the thick stem. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the broccoli for about 5 minutes, until just cooked. Remove the broccoli with a slotted spoon and reserved the water for cooking the pasta. In a separate pan, toast the pine nuts until golden.

In a food processor, blend the garlic, pine nuts, a big handful of cheese, the juice of half a lemon and the broccoli, along with a generous glug of olive oil. Keep adding olive oil until you reach your desired consistency; if you want a looser mixture, but feel like you've already added enough olive oil, you can add a tablespoon of the cooking water from the broccoli/pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, bring the pot of water back to the boil, tip in the pasta and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until al dente. Mix everything together and serve with grated parmesan and a few torn up basil leaves.

The pasta keeps well in the fridge for a few days and is just as tasty cold as it is hot.

p.s. what do you think of these less picture-heavy posts? I actually prefer it for recipes, so there's less scrolling. Plus, it's a lot quicker too!