Lancashire 'Pesto' Recipe

For Lancashire Month, we ran a (not very scientific) blind tasting for Neal's Yard Dairy staff of three 'pesto' recipes. One recipe used the classic pine nut-parmesan combination, while the other two had a British twist, combining hazelnuts with either punchy Kirkham's Mature Lancashire or the buttery, younger Kirkham's Lancashire. It was pretty close, but the young Lancashire recipe was the winner,  - and we promise it wasn't a fix! Here's the recipe - which cheese do you think makes the best pesto?

CLARE'S LANCASHIRE 'PESTO'

Makes 1 Jar

Ingredients

50g Basil leaves, thick stalks removed
150ml Extra virgin olive oil
100g Roasted hazlenuts (or pine nuts)
Pinch of salt
100g Kirkham’s Lancashire (or Parmigiano)

Method

Combine the basil leaves, olive oil, nuts and salt and briefly whizz with a hand blender.
Add the cheese and process again until combined but not overly smooth.