Pesto

   I love freshly made pesto,  whether it's made with mint or using basil, pasta always tastes best when served with pesto.  It's a great refrigerator standby, good with fish and chicken and even on toast.

I usually use Thai basil , which is almost the same to continental basil with a very strong aroma.  Why Thai basil, simple its easily available at local markets, normal continental basil is also available at the supermarket. In Maldives, we have a variety of basil known as gandakoalhi. 

So for a small quantity of pesto :

About 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil ( or you can use a mixture of basil and parsley)
1 fat clove of garlic
1 red or green chilli( my personal touch , optional)
a small handful of blanched, skinned almonds, roughly chopped( if you want in number thats about 8 almonds)
A good amount of extra virgin olive oil or normal olive oil
A big handful of grated parmesan cheese


1. Place, herbs,garlic, chilli ( if using ) and nuts into a food processor or blender or use a hand blender or even the motor and pestle.

2. Pulse a  few times to chop everything up, then add oil in a drizzle by the side, and pulse again, most chefs say to pulse while adding olive oil but my processor doesn't have that funnel (it's a mini one) so I do this way. Pulse till everything is chopped up fine and smooth. 

3. I add parmesan the last or just before adding oil.

4. Use as required, stir into freshly cooked pasta, on grilled fish or chicken etc.  Store in a clean dry bottle, and add a thin layer of olive oil on top of the pesto while storing to keep nice and fresh. Store in the fridge. If you can't find basil anywhere, try my mint pesto.