The postman laid it on the ground, rang the bell, stepped back and nodded; a typical greeting during the corona virus lockdown! Unzipping the black edged carton, I found a hand stitched book, with a ribbon fastening, packed with statements of affection, pockets, gift labels, and even smaller note books. I never had a gift quite so personal in all my life! Renewed acquaintance with a teenage artist friend with whom I had shared hilarious teenage scrapes had brought this treasure; a permanent memory of long lasting and deep friendship.
My kitchen table was shrinking under piles of cookery books. Moving in the direction of a vegetarian/vegan diet is a lengthy quest. I needed a to be able to easily recreate successful recipes, so a place to write them up would be really useful, and one book instead of a small library, a bonus!
I wrote up my first favourite:
Almond Pesto – remembered from watching Jamie Oliver – with love to my friend Chris
Ingredients:
Handful of blanched almonds
1-2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Bunch of basil
- Fry the almonds in coconut oil for a few minutes until slightly golden
- Chop the basil and garlic
- Place everything in the blender and add some olive oil to moisten.
- Serve on pasta and with salad. (You can add sheep’s cheese and vine tomatoes if you want to make it like Jamie)
