Rocket and Macadamia Pesto

What to do with a bounty of rocket? Rocket Pesto of course! and well, the traditional pine nuts are crazy expensive, (they’re harvested by hand from trees that do not produce until after 25 years, and which are only commercially viable after 75 years)

I decided to freestyle my own recipe somewhat and use macadamia’s instead of pine nuts – macadamia’s being much more cost effective by comparison (an $8, 500g packet is enough for 2 batches of pesto, each batch being the equivalent of 2-3 store bought jars) and, well macadamia’s are just as yum as pine nuts.

So, all that being said, this is how I made my pesto.

• 
  
  A big bowl of picked rocket. (Probably the equivalent of 3-4 large handfuls. –rinsed and dried)
• 
  
  1 Cup of macadamia nuts (or what ever nuts you chose to substitute)
• 
  
  150g of grated Pecorino cheese. (You can use Parmesan if you can’t find Pecorino)
• 
  
  2 cloves of Garlic
• 
  
  ¼ Cup of Olive oil
• 
  
  ¼ - ½ a cup of lemon juice (see below)

Because I whizzed mine in a blender (I don’t have a food processor) I had to add a little lemon juice for moisture to get the mix ‘pumping’ –probably ¼ - ½ a cup –you can use water if you prefer or watered down lemon juice if you don’t want too strong of a zing. –If using a food processor, you probably don’t need any.

Directions –throw it all in a blender or food processor and wiz it up! (Using a blender, I had to do mine a little at a time to stop it glugging up in the bottom.)

Depending on if you’re using it for dip or as a pasta sauce, there should be enough for two largish serves. You can store the left over’s in the fridge for up to two weeks – longer if you drizzle olive oil over the top to keep it from oxidising –similar to how sun dried tomato’s store in olive oil.

 

I am thinking of omitting the lettuce from the next planting and (aside from the perennial lettuce) sticking with just rocket and spinach. We tend to get a glut of salad vegetables that need to be eaten immediately, and well, spinach and rocket can be used for a variety of different recipes than can just plain lettuce.