Lunch Lady vs Coles Basil Pesto

Lunch Lady vs Coles Basil Pesto
14 April 2015

Autumn is here, and I find myself making stockpiles of pesto! It is one THE greatest friends you can have in the kitchen. It can be used as the base for a bazillion different dinners and it also a real winner in the lunchbox. The girls love it in their sandwiches, in a pasta salad or tossed through some of our favourite oven roasted potato chips. I love it with an egg on toast, with a bucketload of chilli.

We are lucky to have a walnut tree out in the garden, we pop these beauties in our pesto. Head out to the country on the weekend and try and find your very own secret walnut tree, we have a couple. But not telling.

You can make a wide variety of pestos, use what you have available to you or something you might want to get rid of in the fridge. We have a garden heaving with rocket and a kitchen full of pumpkins, there’s two pestos right there!

The big win with pesto is how easy it is to make. It is nearly impossible to mess up, unless you’re my friend who thought mint was basil. Even if you haven’t got the energy or desire to whip up something from scratch, this takes no time and will reward you with bags of pesto for the nights you’re home late, feeling unwell or just totally worn out. And it will make your kitchen smell AMAZING.

Lunch Lady’s Basil (or whatever you have in the kitchen or garden) Pesto vs Coles Basil Pesto

What You Need

From Scratch

• 2 cups of basil, or whatever leafy green you have plenty of
• 1 cup of parmesan or pecorino, or whatever hard cheese you like
• 2 garlic cloves
• a small handful of walnuts (you can use cashews, pine nuts or replace it with sunflowers seeds)
• olive oil

(these quantities are a real guide as some people like more garlic, less garlic, more cheese, you get what I am saying. So add and subtract to suit your taste)

Coles Basil Pesto

• Sunflower Oil (37%)
• Chopped Basil (28%)
• Glucose Syrup
• Grana Padano Cheese (6%)
  – contains Lysozyme Egg White
  – Animal Rennet
• Crushed Cashew Nuts
• Sea Salt
• Potato Flakes
• Crushed Pine Kernels (2%)
• Pecorino Romano Cheese
  – contains Animal Rennet
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Garlic
• Whey Protein
• Acidity Regulator
  – 270
• Natural Basil Flavour.

What You Need to Do

From Scratch Pesto

1. Chuck everything in a food processor and blend.
2. Slowly add the olive oil until you have a paste that still has a little texture but is spreadable.
3. Check the flavours and if there is something you’d like a little more of, put it and and mix again.
4. Pop it in a jar and think of the possibilites!

Coles Basil Pesto

1. Open the jar.

I had an idea while I was writing this post about combining two of the ways I love using the pesto. I made some potatoes, using this same recipe, without the herbs. I fried and egg, popped in on top of the finished potatoes and then poured over some good ol’ homemade chilli. The girls and I devoured it in seconds (my half is on the right).

Please give making pesto a go. It really is a kitchen saviour. x