75g basil leaves
50g hazelnuts, toasted in a dry frying pan (or in the oven if you are brave enough)
3 cloves of garlic, grated or crushed and finely chopped (less if you are not a garlic fan)
150ml olive oil (or use a mix of olive and sunflower)
Plenty of black pepper
Juice of half a lemon
A large handful of grated parmesan (or other hard salty cheese of your choice)
Salt to taste – don’t forget the cheese will be salty
Put the basil leaves, olive oil, pepper, garlic, lemon juice and half of the hazelnuts in a small food processor and blitz until everything is fairly roughly ground – you don’t want a smooth paste here. You will probably have to scrape down the sides with a spatula a couple of times. Add the cheese and blitz again. Taste and add salt if it needs it. Add the rest of the hazelnuts and pulse until you have the texture you like.
Pot in a jam jar and seal tightly or freeze in small containers. This will keep for a at least a week in the fridge if you pour some extra olive oil into the top of the jar, but stays freshest if you freeze it.
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