Spinach & cashew pesto
Spinach pesto is a bit lighter and less aromatic than straight-up basil and works really well with the delicate flavour and texture of homemade gnocchi.
Now I realise that making gnocchi from scratch is probably not exactly at the top of your job list in the middle of lockdown when we’re all juggling a million things, so you could easily just use shop-bought or any kind of pasta as a sub - it’ll still be really delicious. The cooking method I recommend for shop-bought gnocchi is frying with olive oil in a hot pan for about 5 minutes, no need to boil. I think you get a better taste and texture that way.
As I haven’t actually made much gnocchi until recently (thank you Lockdown 1 & 3), I haven’t developed my own recipe as yet, so I’ve been using a really reliable one by The Smitten Kitchen if you fancy giving it a go. I’m not quite sure how I could improve on it to be honest, but I’ll experiment with a few different methods over the next few weeks and then develop my own version.
You’ll be pleased to know that the pesto is super easy to make as long as you have a food processor (I know, Nonna would turn in her grave), if not, it’s the traditional Italian way with elbow grease and a pestle and mortar.. way more authentic, but a little more time-consuming!
Ingredients
Serves 8
60g cashews
1 clove garlic
30g parmesan
4 tbsp olive oil
80g spinach
20g basil
1/2 tsp sea salt
Juice of ½ lemon
Method
Preheat the oven to 160ºc and toast the cashews on a baking tray for 6-7 minutes until slightly browned.
Allow the nuts to cool while you get all the other ingredients weighed out.
Put the parmesan in a food processor and blitz to a crumble, then add the nuts and pulse a few times.
Add all the rest of the ingredients and continue to pulse until you have a paste-like texture. You will need to scrape down the sides at least a couple of times to ensure that all the ingredients are mixed evenly.
tip
You can substitute the cashews for pine or hazelnuts if you prefer.
