Pesto & panforte

My Dad is a master at growing herbs, he always has plenty to share with the family and even supplies a local restaurant! Lately he has had an abundance of basil, my favourite herb. My sister and I collected a huge bag of basil leaves and took them back to my place to create this delicious pesto.

We made so much that I lost track of the quantities of each ingredient so unfortunately I have no recipe. The ingredients I used are: washed and dried basil leaves, lightly toasted pinenuts, grated pecorino cheese, crushed garlic, olive oil and a little salt. We just kept tasting it and adjusting as we went along until we were happy with the balance of flavours.

Later that day I had a hankering for something sweet and decided to make this raw apricot and almond panforte that I had seen in the New Vegetarian Kitchen recipe book by Nicola Graimes. Instead of putting the mix into a slice tin and cutting it into pieces, I thought it would be fun to make little rounds in my silicone mini muffin tray. After chilling for an hour they came out easily with no greasing required.

I did tweak the recipe a bit so here is my adapted version:

1/4 cup blanched almonds

1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts

1/2 cup wholegrain raw oats

2 Tbslp pumpkin seeds

2 Tblsp sunflower seeds

1 cup dried apricots

3/4 cup raisins

5 Tblsp orange juice

2 Tblsp cacao powder

2 Tblsp dark choc chips or cacao nibs

2 tsp cinnamon 

1 small pinch cayenne pepper

Process the nuts, oats and seeds in the food processor briefly until the larger nuts are in small chunks. Put into a bowl and add the cacao powder and choc chips/nibs. Process the remaining ingredients to a paste. Mix all together in the bowl until well combined then press into either a lined slice tray or a silicone mini muffin tray. Chill for 1 hour before serving. They should be firm but a bit sticky and hopefully delicious!