Besil pesto sauce was first introduced to me by my late father-in-law. Tears welled up my eyes as I type this. It’s been a year since we lost him but it still hurts. I missed his daily phone call to ask me ‘What’s for lunch, Julie?’ He might not be here but his teaching/recipes lives on. Therefore I also have no time for people who are selfish enough not to share recipe. Utmost annoying are those who lies and boast that they do not measure and those those who tell you to search the internet. Benci! Experiences and TIPs are the yardsticks I measure how kind, helpful and generous a person is.

My father-in-law might not eat all of my food but he loved asking me what’s I am serving his son. Often he is shocked at the palate his son has cultivated.

Anyway basil pesto sauce is another of them recipe lost in my old blog. As of today it is not lost anymore. This blog is now triple saved.

Basil pesto sauce or any sort of pesto sauce is so easy to make. I promised you that once you have made your own you will never ever eat shop bought one.

Pesto, or to refer to the original dish pesto alla genovese, is a sauce originating in Genoa, the capital city of Liguria, Italy. It traditionally consists of crushed garlic, European pine nuts, coarse salt, basil leaves, and hard cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano and it is with these original ingredients that I was taught to make from. The only different from my father-in-law’s is I add a lot more garlic and I also use a more generous amount of freshly ground Sarawak’s pepper.

Of course we can make pesto with any other herbs but for me, my favourite is still basil. It is so versatile a sauce and today I dribble it liberally with Haddock en papillote and both hubby and I enjoyed our lunch very much. As it is so easy to make, I hope with this lock down you will try.

TIP – You can ‘wash’ your basil by watering them the day before using and let them dry thoroughly.

TIP – Olive oil must cover the top of your jar if you intend to keep for awhile.

TIP – Always toast your own pine nuts.

TIP – Use the hard bits of your parmesan so as no waste.

The boy lollipop requested turkey schnitzel. He said I have not made this for ages. I use to cook this with all types of protein then keep some to make sandwiches for his school lunch box. This is a very easy but children and adult pleasing dish. You can make a sauce for it but there is no need actually. Children loves it dip in ketchup and adults preferred a squeeze of lemon and tartare sauce with a bit of capers. 

You can serve with potatoes, pasta or anything you like but I have always serve with a side salads.

This creamy leeks vegetable side dish is a good accompaniment to any dishes and for cheese lovers you can of course add in more cheese. It goes very well with simple pan seared salmon, gammon ham, anything really.

I know I moan about the British and their forever boiled vegetables but this is one of them boiled vegetables that is nice to eat. The purist will tell you that there is nothing more deeply comforting than a dish of boiled vegetables covered in a savoury white sauce. My family is very partial to this creamy leeks dish.

Please feel free to add crispy bacon on top.