Linguine with wild garlic pesto & plum tomatoes

Ingredients 100g wild garlic, 100g fresh basil, 50ml olive oil, parmigiano, 1/2 lemon, 50g pine nuts, linguine, tomatoes.

Preparation: 5-10 minutes

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me recently posting about foraging for wild garlic pesto but I have finally got around to actually updating here! I love wild garlic. It's so vibrantly green and though every bit as pungent as garlic bulbs, when eaten raw it does not have that same sting of heat. When I was pregnant with The Starchild I swapped garlic bulbs for wild garlic on many an occasion to avoid getting heartburn. This dish is so fresh and glorious and ridiculously quick and simple to make.

1) Put the pasta on to boil and slice the tomatoes into quarters.

2) Add the basil and wild garlic to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. You can use a blender if you wish of course.

3) Add the pine nuts, olive oil and grated parmeggian and grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice to taste, and if you wish a pinch of salt though personally I find the parmigiano and wild garlic take care of the savoury notes.

4) Drain the pasta and stir in a few spoons of pesto, then toss with the tomatoes and serve.

Wild Garlic Pesto

Ingredients 100g wild garlic, 100g fresh basil, 50ml olive oil, parmigiano, 1/2 lemon, 50g pine nuts.

Preparation: 5-10 minutes

There will never be anything like fresh pesto. Grinding the basil into the pine nuts releases a sweet perfume, further enhanced with notes of citrus which is then brought down to earth with the earthiness of the garlic and tang of parmeggian. As the kitchen fills with the scent I become giddy with the anticipation of it, and it's short lived because it's so quick and simple to make. Don't buy it, celebrate every aspect of this gorgeous, fresh sauce by making it yourself - particularly now when you can still find a glut of wild garlic growing abundantly outdoors, for free!

1) Add the basil and wild garlic to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. You can use a blender if you wish of course.

2) Add the pine nuts, olive oil and grated parmeggian and grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice to taste, and if you wish a pinch of salt though personally I find the parmigiano and wild garlic take care of the savoury notes.

3) To store, cover with a thin layer of oil to protect the contents from oxidising or to serve, stir a few spoons into cooked, drained pasta, drizzle onto a caprese salad or slather on bread or pizza.

Protein pesto salad

Ingredients 1 can cannellini beans, 250g red & white quinoa (Merchant Gourmet), 250g beluga lentils (also Merchant Gourmet), 100g fresh basil, 1 clove garlic, 50ml basil oil, parmigiano, 1/2 lemon, 50g pine nuts.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 5 minutes (+ 20 if using dried lentils and quinoa)

I always have a kilner jar of pesto on the go in the fridge so that in a rush for a quick meal I can chuck some pasta or gnocchi or buschetta together in about 5 minutes flat. I was recently asked for a recipe for a healthy, satisfying salad packed with protein and this is one of my favourite picnic staples. Merchant Gourmet make fabulous little pouches of cereals and grains which seriously cut down on prep time, but Quinoa and lentils are quick enough to cook from scratch using the instructions below.

1) If using raw quinoa and lentils: Soak for 5 minutes and rinse thoroughly in a sieve before transferring to a pan. Depending on where you buy it, quinoa naturally has an acrid coating called saponin which you don't want flavouring your food! Cover with lightly salted water and bring to the boil for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently as it soaks up the water and fluffs up, then remove from the heat, add the drained and rinsed cannellini beans and set aside to cool.

2) To make pesto: add the fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. Sautee 1 crushed clove of garlic in the basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice, basil oil and parmeggian to taste.

3) Stir 2 tablespoons of the pesto into the quinoa, beluga lentils and beans and either serve or refrigerate for up to 5 days for lunch. If you want to vary this a little from day to day (I liked to make a batch on a Sunday and portion it out for the week) it's nice to sprinkle pomegranate jewels though it, or add some salad leaves, or chopped cherry tomatoes or bell peppers (raw or roasted) and I especially love blitzing up some spinach or kale in the blender and stirring that through)

Kale Pesto Caprese Pancake Cannelloni

Ingredients 120g plain flour, 2 eggs, 210ml milk, 90ml water, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, butter, 100g pine nuts, 1 lemon, 30g parmigiano, mozzarella, tomato, Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt, Cheddar

Serves: 4 Preparation: 45 minutes

I adore making pancakes. There's something so soothing about the ritualistic rolling of batter in a pan. When I created my recipe for kale pesto, I instantly envisioned it in contrast to oozing cheese and pasta. But then after using it as a pancake filling, I couldn't resist making cannelloni using my leftover pancake batter and borrowing the incredible yoghurt sauce that I created for enchiladas to smother my stuffed pancakes with. It's a delicious, yet light dish... coming soon kale pesto pasta. Om nom nom. 

1) Mix the flour with a pinch of salt in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs.

2) Measure 90ml water in a pyrex jug, then top it up to 300ml with milk.
Beat the eggs into the flour with a wooden spoon and gradually beat in the milk and water mixture until smooth.

3) Stir in the vegetable oil and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes but preferably an hour.

4) To make the pesto - Add the basil leaves to a mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and the pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding a squeeze of lemon juice and grated parmigiano to taste. Tear the leaves of the kale from the woody stalks and add to a blender along with the pesto. Blend thoroughly, drizzling oil at the same time until the desired consistency has been reached.

5) Heat a non-stick frying pan until very hot, then add a small knob of butter. Pour in one ladle of batter, quickly turning the pan off the heat to coat the base evenly with the batter. Return to the hob and cook for about one minute, until the base is lightly browned. I like to use a spatula or palette knife to just loosen the edges of the pancake - once the air gets under it you will find it does not stick to the pan but slide about which helps it to flip!

6) Flip over the pancake (if you have a clumsy wrist, slide the pancake onto a plate, then tip the pan over the plate and turn it upside down. No one will ever know!

7) Once the pancake has cooked on both sides, repeat until you have 6 pancakes. Spread the kale pesto onto the pancakes and add a line of mozzarella in the centre. Roll up the pancakes and set them in an ovenproof dish.

8) To make the sauce, grate the cheddar into the yoghurt and spread over the pancakes. Top with an extra layer of cheese and bake for 15 minutes.

Pancakes - kale pesto caprese

La	Ingredients 120g plain flour, 2 eggs, 210ml milk, 90ml water, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, butter, 30g basil, 200g kale, 100g pine nuts, 1 lemon, 30g parmigiano, mozzarella, tomato, olive oil

Serves: 6 Preparation: 20 minutes

I adore making pancakes. There's something so soothing about the ritualistic rolling of batter in a pan and who says that pancakes have to be sweet? When I  created my recipe for kale pesto, I knew that I wanted to make a warm version of a caprese salad (basil, tomato and mozzarella) and with pancake day coming up... what better way to serve it?! 

1) Mix the flour with a pinch of salt in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs.

2) Measure 90ml water in a pyrex jug, then top it up to 300ml with milk.
Beat the eggs into the flour with a wooden spoon and gradually beat in the milk and water mixture until smooth.

3) Stir in the vegetable oil and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes but preferably an hour.

4) To make the pesto - Add the basil leaves to a mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and the pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding a squeeze of lemon juice and grated parmigiano to taste. Tear the leaves of the kale from the woody stalks and add to a blender along with the pesto. Blend thoroughly, drizzling oil at the same time until the desired consistency has been reached.

5) Heat a non-stick frying pan until very hot, then add a small knob of butter. Pour in one ladle of batter, quickly turning the pan off the heat to coat the base evenly with the batter. Return to the hob and cook for about one minute, until the base is lightly browned. I like to use a spatula or palette knife to just loosen the edges of the pancake - once the air gets under it you will find it does not stick to the pan but slide about which helps it to flip!

6) Flip over the pancake (if you have a clumsy wrist, slide the pancake onto a plate, then tip the pan over the plate and turn it upside down. No one will ever know!

7) Once the pancake has cooked on both sides, serve filled with slices of mozzarella, tomato and the pesto.

Paprika pesto

Ingredients 150g Basil leaves, 1/2 lemon, 75g pine nuts, 1 tsp paprika, parmigiano, olive oil

Serves: 2 Preparation: 15 minutes

There is nothing like a good pesto. With just a mortar and pestle and 10 minutes of elbow grease you can achieve any number of fabulous, vibrant flavour coatings for pasta, salad, bread or even to jazz up meat and vegetables. It's quick, cheap and there is absolutely no excuse for buying some sad, faded mush in a jar instead of making your own. Over the last (almost) 2 years I have brought you both the perfect classic pesto (Basil and Pine Nut) and also pestos made with: Mint and Walnut, Basil and Pistachio, Olive, Peashoot and Pine Nut, Sage and Pistachio and finally Pistou - which is a French variant made with Basil and Almond that is AMAZING in soup.
Most nuts and most herbs or even salad leaves such as rocket, will make a good pesto - experiment with using lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit, with different oils and you'll be amazed at the results. My latest triumph, this smoked paprika pesto in particular has a wonderful, earthy flavour.

1) Add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp.

2) Add a pinch of coarse sea salt, the paprika and handful of pine nuts and grind thoroughly.

3) Add a squeeze of lemon juice, the olive oil and grated parmeggian to taste.

I served my pesto with fresh linguine

Pesto & mozzarella sartu

Ingredients Risotto rice (arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano - I would recommend carnaroli), white onion, vegetable stock, butter, mozzarella, old bread, Basil, basil oil, garlic, pine nuts, parmeggian, lemon.

Sartu is a sort of kiev made from risotto - baked in a bowl to form a crust on the outside and a soft gooey filling.

1) Prepare the bowl by rubbing butter on the inside, then coating with breadcrumbs (blitz old bread in a blender to form crumbs). Put the bowl in the fridge.

2) To make pesto:  add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. Sautee 1 crushed clove of garlic in basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice, basil oil and parmeggian to taste.


3) To make the risotto crust, finely dice a white onion and sizzle in a pan with some basil oil. Add the rice and stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre. Pour in a glug of vermouth and stir as it cooks off.

4) Add the first ladle of vegetable stock and stir through. Continue to stir the risotto, adding stock one ladle at a time as it cooks off. Once the risotto is ready, set aside to cool a little.

5) Take the crumbed bowl from the fridge and spoon a layer of risotto over the crumbs. Press firmly against the sides and imagine you're building an igloo! This has to stand up under its own weight so it needs to have firm sides.

6) Spoon the pesto into the centre and top with a good handful of grated mozarella, then pack more risotto down over the filling. This will form the base of the sartu so make sure it is flat.

7) Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then turn it over onto a plate and cut into it to serve.

Pesto knish

Ingredients Basil, basil oil, garlic, pine nuts, parmigiano, lemon, 2 maris piper potatoes, Jus-Rol™ puff pastry

Serves: 1 preparation: 30 minutes


A knish is a Jewish recipe though this I hasten to add is my own twist on the traditional form. The thinnest crispiest flakiest outer shell, a soft warm savoury filling - this is pure heaven.


1) To make pesto mash: see previous recipe.

2) Roll out the chilled pastry until it is as thin as possible but still thick enough to handle without poking holes through it. Remember pastry is made of butter and the potato is warm so you don't want to melt it!

3) Using a tennis ball sized scoop of potato, add it to the centre of the pastry, then cut the pastry down until it is just big enough to envelop the potato. Either poke a hole in the centre or as I did, twist the pastry together to form a spiral at the top. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

Please note - the picture has obviously been deconstructed to show you the filling... don't put it in the oven open or it will dry out!

Pesto Mash

Ingredients Basil, basil oil, garlic, pine nuts, parmigiano, lemon, 2 maris piper potatoes.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 minutes


Mashed potato is without a doubt my favourite food. It is the ultimate in comfort and is wonderfully versatile. Much like everything goes with toast, in my humble opinion you can add pretty much anything to mashed potato from citrus to cheese to spices to vegetables and it will still be absolutely divine. This pesto mash forms the basis of another recipe - Pesto Knish but is simply perfect as a dish in its own right.


1) Peel and dice the potatoes, then boil in hot salted water for 20 minutes.


2) To make the pesto - add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. Sautee 1 crushed clove of garlic in basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice, basil oil and parmeggian to taste.


3) Drain the potatoes and add to the blender along with a few teaspoons of pesto, blitzing for a few seconds until the potato is smooth.

Courgette Fettucini

Ingredients 4 courgettes, pine nuts, double cream, 3 egg yolks, pecorino,

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 minutes


I love pasta. There I've said it... I love the versatility of cooking with it and find it comforting to make but sometimes an alternative needs to be found. I have lots of friends who don't or can't eat it and I find this light alternative to be fantastic. So light in fact that I felt the need to make an incredibly ingulgent sauce to go with it...


1) Slice the tops and tails from the courgettes and then using a vegetable peeler, slice ribbons from each edge and then slice each ribbon in half vertically. Continue working round until about half the courgette has gone, then either discard the core or save it for soup or bread!


2) In a pan, toast off a handful of pine nuts and add double cream and grated pecorino to the pan. Stir through on a gentle heat until the cheese has melted, then whisk 3 egg yolks into it. Add the courgette ribbons to the sauce and stir through until they are coated.


Serve with lots of freshly grated black pepper.

Linguine with pesto & poached egg yolk

Ingredients Linguine, 1 egg, basil, basil oil, pine nuts, parmigiano, lemon juice, garlic

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 minutes

In Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals, I once heard him say that it was perfectly acceptable not to make your own pesto, that the stuff in a jar was no different. Now I expect that kind of laziness from the gorgeous Nigella, but from Jamie? Not so much. And excuse me, a humble cook for daring to contradict a celebrated chef but he's wrong. Dead wrong. Wrong in the head if he believes that. There will never be anything like fresh pesto. Grinding the basil into the pine nuts releases a sweet perfume, further enhanced with notes of citrus which is then brought down to earth with the earthiness of the garlic and tang of parmeggian. As the kitchen fills with the scent I become giddy with the anticipation of it, and it's short lived because it's so quick and simple to make. Don't buy it, celebrate it.

1) Add the linguine to hot, salted water and bring to the boil for about 8 minutes.

2) To make the pesto - add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. Sautee 1 crushed clove of garlic in basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice, basil oil and parmeggian to taste.

2) Strain the linguine from the water (don't discard) and add the pasta to the pesto. Toss, adding extra pine nuts until it is coated in pesto.

3) Using the remaining boiling water, drop in an egg yolk for about 30 seconds and then remove with a teaspoon, transferring it to sit on the pasta.

Break the egg yolk immediately and stir the creaminess through your pasta. Heaven... and far less than 30 minutes Jamie *winks*

Spinach, butterbean & feta stir fry

Ingredients     1 tin butterbeans, feta, 200g      spinach, leek, butter, basil, basil oil, lemon, garlic, pine nuts, parmigiano.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1


I have always loved butterbeans but I realised recently that I only use them in soup. This recipe was my attempt to branch out... and use up some leftover pesto and it turned out to be a fantastic side dish. This works hot or cold, so give it a try.


1) To make the pesto - add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. Sautee 1 crushed clove of garlic in basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice, basil oil and parmeggian to taste.


2) Finely dice about an inch of leek and sautee in a teaspoon of butter.


3) Boil the beans for 5 minutes in salted water and strain. Add to the pan of leek and stir through.


4) Allow the beans to sizzle in the butter for about a minute, then add the spinach and stir through.


5) Once the spinach has wilted, stir through the pesto and remove from the heat. Add the feta and serve.

Pesto mini muffins

Ingredients225g self raising flour, 50g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 150g Rachel's Organic greek yoghurt, 125ml milk, 1 egg, basil, basil oil, lemon, garlic, pine nuts, parmigiano.

Serves: 52 Preparation: 20 minutes


I am a total soup junkie and forever creating different flavours of breads to dunk in, or different textures and flavours to use as croutons. I have even been known to fill Hula-Hoops with cream cheese and float them on my soup. Mmmm melty goodness. These mini muffins are a great way to use up leftover pesto .


1) To make the pesto - add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. Sautee 1 crushed clove of garlic in basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice, basil oil and parmeggian to taste.


2) Sift together the self raising flour, plain flour, baking powder and baking soda.

3) Whisk together 1 egg with the milk and 6 tsps pesto and stir into the flour mixture.

4) Stir in the yoghurt but do not make the mixture too smooth - it needs to be a bit lumpy for the muffins to rise and have those lovely fluffy bubbles of air inside.

5) Spoon into the mini muffin cases and bake at 220 degrees for 7-10 minutes (until they mushroom from the cases and become golden brown).

6) Allow to cool and pop them out of the cases and float on your soup.

Carrot & mozzarella pesto salad

Ingredients Carrot, mozzarella, basil, basil oil, lemon, garlic, pine nuts, parmigiano.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 minutes


I love to make pesto, it's not only delicious it's versatile so leftovers are never a problem! The crisp sweetness of the carrot is the perfect contrast to the grainy, savoury pesto.


1) To make the pesto - add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. Sautee 1 crushed clove of garlic in basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice, basil oil and parmeggian to taste.


2) Grate the carrots and mozzarella and stir in the pesto and you're done!

Potato & egg salad with pea pesto

Ingredients 8 exquisa potatoes, 4 eggs, 1 cup garden peas, basil, basil oil, parmigiano, salt, garlic, lemon juice, pine nuts, parsley.

Serves: 4 preparation: 30 minutes


Who says that salads have to be boring? A big heaped dish of this gloriously succulent salad and I guarantee you will never put those two words in mind. The wonderful savoury pesto, fresh sweet peas and the big chunks of egg and potato are filling and comforting and it's full of good stuff for growing people! 

1) Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes, adding the peas to the water in the last 3 minutes, then strain and set aside to cool. Once they are cool enough to touch, slice in half.


2) Hardboil the eggs for 12 minutes, then run under the cold tap and peel (my tip for peeling. Squash the egg with your palm and start from the top - if you get under the membrane the shell should spiral off, almost in one piece) Slice the eggs in half.


3) To make the pesto - add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp. Sautee 1 crushed clove of garlic in basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly, adding lemon juice, basil oil and parmeggian to taste.


4) Stir the potatoes and eggs gently into the pesto, add some freshly chopped parsley and serve warm or cold. If you're feeling extra indulgent, add some grated mozzarella to this heavenly salad.

Beetroot & goats cheese salad

Ingredients  Beetroot, goats cheese, balsamic glaze, pine nuts, Spinach leaves, salad leaves, basil oil.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 5


I love salad. After the indulgence of Christmas this is just what I need to feel a little bit virtuous.


1) Wash the beetroot and slice off the stalks and leaves. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Carefully peel the beetroot with the nick of a knife, then once it's cool slice into matchsticks.


2) Toss the salad leaves in basil oil and add the beetroot.


3) Crumble the goats cheese into the salad and add the pine nuts. It's entirely up to you whether you prefer them toasted or not. Personally in this salad I prefer them not to be toasted.

Leek and courgette stuffed conchiglioni

Ingredients 8 Conchiglioni shells, 1 courgette, 1/2 a leek, 15g pine nuts, 15g mozarella, 10g parmigiano, 100ml cream, basil oil.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

I have despaired of late at the cost of pine nuts. Due to their popularity over the past 5 years they have steadily risen in price to a level which has caused me to stubbornly escheq them completely and bring you recipes using a range of more reasonably priced nuts. I'm not going to suggest that I have anything to do with the price going down but go down it has so let us one again embrace the pine nut!

1) Cook the conchiglioni shells in hot water for 10 minutes, strain and set aside to cool just enough for you to be able to handle them (go go gadget asbestos fingers!)

2) Whilst the pasta is cooking, finely dice half a leek and sautee in a tablespoon of basil oil until soft. Grate the courgette into the pan and stir through, adding a little more basil oil.

3) Remove from the hob after 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Add the grated mozarella and pine nuts and stir through.

4) Using the same pan, pour in the cream and grated mozarella and whisk rapidly over a low flame until the mozarella has been completely incorporated and the cream has thickened a little.

5) Stuff the pasta shells with the leek and courgette mixture (they should take a good tablespoon at least) - again be careful not to burn yourself!

6) Ladle the parmeggian cream onto a dish and set the shells in the sauce. If the shells are still hot, serve, otherwise this could be heated in the oven for a few minutes (not too long or the sauce will curdle and the pasta will dry!)

Chicken stuffed with spinach, fig & goats cheese

Ingredients Spinach, goats cheese, nutmeg,  chicken, parma ham, dischi volante, bell peppers, balsamic vinegar, pine nuts, passata, basil, basil oil, onion.

Spinach and figs are in season right now, so make the most of it!


1) Combine the spinach leaves, freshly grated nutmeg and goats cheese in a blender, slice a pocked into the side of your chicken and pack with the spinach mix, pine nuts and sliced figs. Rub a little of the spinach stuffing over the skin of the chicken, wrap the chicken in parma ham and bake.


2) To make the pasta sauce; roast slices of bell pepper in the oven until the skin blackens and blitz in the blender along with a handful of fresh basil. Set aside.


3) Sautee half a finely chopped white onion in basil oil and allow to completely soften. Stir through half a glass of red wine, then add passata tomatoes.


4) Stir in the roasted peppers, season with a pinch of salt and finish with a splash of balsamic vinegar before stirring the drained pasta into the sauce.

Pesto stuffed chicken

Ingredients Linguine, garden peas, pea shoots, basil, garlic, basil oil, pine nuts, cream cheese, chicken, bacon.

Following from my previous recipe - Linguine with pea pesto, this is a good serving suggestion, using the same creamy pesto to stuff the chicken.

1) Slice a pocket into the side of the chicken breast with a paring knife and stuff with two teaspoons of the pesto mix.

2) Seal the chicken with 2 - 3 slices of thin smoked bacon (or parma ham) and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Linguine with pea pesto

Ingredients Linguine, garden peas, pea shoots, basil, garlic, basil oil, pine nuts, cream cheese.

1) Finely slice a good handful of fresh basil leaves and add to a mortar bowl.
Sautee 1 clove of garlic in basil oil and add to the mortar bowl along with a pinch of salt and a handful of pine nuts. Grind thoroughly and then stir in a tablespoon of cream cheese.

2) Drop the linguine into salted boiling water for 10 minutes, adding a handful of garden peas during the last 2 minutes.

3) Stir through the creamy pesto and serve, topped with peashoots and pine nuts