PESTO

Traditionally, a simple pesto is made of fresh basil, pine nuts, olive oil and parmesan cheese, all blended into a paste. Over the years, it's been simplified to any herb, any nuts, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Over here, pine nuts costs a bomb, and unfortunately my basil plant is almost bald from overuse, so I'm substituting the basil and pine nuts with parsley and almonds. This pesto will be used in spaghetti with mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and bacon

Ingredients

For the pesto
2 handfuls of parsley leaves
40g roasted almonds
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons of olive oil

For the pasta
3 rashes of bacon, chopped
Your favourite mushrooms, roughly chopped
Half of a whole garlic, chopped
4 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
Spaghetti for two portions

Method

Put all the ingredients for the pesto into a blender, blend it and presto! you've got pesto! simple, right?! ;-) put it aside.

Cook the spaghetti according to instructions till al dente
Drain the water and mix the pesto with the spaghetti, put aside.
In a hot pan with some olive oil, sear the tomatoes.
Next, add the bacon and garlic, cook till the bacon is almost crispy.
Put the mushrooms in, stir well and cover the pan for about a minute. The mushrooms should be cooked by then.
When the mushroom's done, add the spaghetti into the pan, mix well and you're ready to serve.

This dish can easily be turned into a meat-free dish by omitting the bacon, just add a little more cheese and nuts and you won't notice the difference. A really tasty and healthy dish! 

Enjoy!