Parsley and Hazelnut Pesto

Mum has such a huge amount of parsley in her garden at the moment, that I couldn't resist making a batch of pesto for the family. The weather was so lovely at the farm. We love staying up there spending time with the family. Mum is a super gardener, though she would tell you that herself. Every year she plants a huge vege garden.

Mum's massive parsley and chive patch. She grew the hazelnuts as well. If you don't have any hazelnuts, you can substitute walnuts.









Parsley and Hazelnut Pesto

a huge bunch of parsley and a few chives for good measure
3/4 cup shelled hazelnuts
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup oil - I used canola
1 teaspoon salt






Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan until they begin to brown. Keep them moving or they will burn.

Once toasted, turn them out onto a clean tea towel and rub between the towel to remove the skins.








Place the hazelnuts into the food processor and blend until they have broken down into small pieces.

Depending on the size of your food processor, place half the washed parsley into the processor and blend until it starts to form a paste. Add the garlic and salt and half the oil, and blend again.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Process the other half of the parsley with the remaining oil. Fold the two batches together and check for seasoning. Add more salt if required.





We ate our pesto tossed through some pasta for a beautiful summer dish.