Pesto Curls

150g (5.3 oz) parmesan, finely grated

80g (2.8 oz) almonds, toasted

1 clove of garlic

4 handfuls of greek basil

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 pack of puff pastry

sea salt and pepper for seasoning

flour for dusting

• place a frying pan over a medium heat and toast the almonds for 5 minutes or so, tossing often to ensure they do not burn
• in a small food processor blitz the almonds and garlic clove until crumb size
• then add the basil, parmesan, salt, pepper and olive oil, continue to blitz until a paste
• on a floured surface layout of the puff pastry, run a rolling pin over it a few times, just to stretch it out a little as pack pastry can often be quite thick
• spread the pesto over the entire sheet of pastry
• roll the opposite sides towards each other until the two rolls meet in the middle (try and roll it as tightly as possible without mutilating the shape)
• place in the fridge for an hour/hour and a half to let it rest
• preheat the oven to 180 C
• once chilled cut the roll into 1cm (2cm is fine as well) segments and lay out flat on a baking sheet
• place on middle shelf and check on them after 15 minutes
• transfer onto a wire rack to cool fully

I found this alternative recipe for pesto in Jamie Oliver's Italy cookbook and thought it would work great as this pastry morsel. These are always a crowd pleaser accompanying drinks, however, you can use the pesto recipe in it's own right with pasta. Reserve a little of the pasta water to loosen it up, or add some olive oil to bulk it up and you can always use the old pine nuts instead, if you don't like almonds.

This form of pastry is also really versatile and you can add chopped sun-blushed tomatoes to the pesto, or crumble in some goat's cheese. Always be wary on how much salt you use as parmesan does a lot for seasoning.