I have a salad garden so that Dave can pick his own green leaves for workday lunches. It is abundant with wild rocket and three different types of basil. And so, a rocket and basil pesto seemed like a great solution to using some of the herbs.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Rocket And Basil Pesto ♥
Some of my regular readers will recall the threat of Day Zero. We were in a severe drought and our dams had days of water left in them. Due to the fact our municipal water consumption was restricted, many people sunk boreholes. We have an aquifer beneath our property and this was sucked dry by the drought and the borehole users. And then the rains came, and it rained and rained. Filling up our dams and all the underground aquifers. Other than relief, the main result for us was a huge crack in our wall. The cause was two-fold. One, the land had subsided and then flooded under the foundation. And the other was the poor brick work done. The bricks had not been tied together and the corner opened up. Eventually we came to an agreement with the builder about the repair.
Today’s inspirational recipe from Lavender and Lime ♥ Rocket And Basil Pesto ♥ #LavenderAndLime Share on X
The inside wall was sealed using a silicone that can expand and contract. This is necessary as the ground will do this naturally. The outside wall had the bricks removed and new ones laid, tied in to each other, with rebar. The new brickwork was left to cure for a week before being painted. I can only hope that the work that has been done is sufficient to stop the wall totally opening up. I can understand that cracks appear as the ground beneath is clay, and not very stable. And the stress put on the walls by the roof beams creates small cracks. These are all part and parcel of building a home. As long as there are no gaping seams I will be happy. Have you had any large cracks appear in your walls? If so, what caused them?
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Rocket And Basil Pesto
Ingredients
- 25 g sunflower seeds, lightly toasted and cooled
- 18 g rocket leaves
- 18 g basil leaves
- 15 mls lemon juice
- 8 g Parmesan, grated
- 1 clove garlic, peeled (blitz in the microwave for 30 seconds if you do not like raw garlic)
- 30 mls olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
Method
- Place the sunflower seeds into a blender and blitz for 10 seconds, just to break them up
- Add the rocket, basil, lemon juice, Parmesan and garlic and blend until coarse
- Add the olive oil and blend until smooth
- Season to taste and serve or store in a sterilized glass jar for up to 1 week in the fridge
Notes
View the previous posts on April 20:
- 2022: Drostdy Hotel
- 2020: Maltagliati Al Funghi
- 2018: Licorice Ice Cream
- 2016: Lakeside Lodge And Spa
- 2015: Soda Bread
- 2014: Mirage
- 2012: Lemongrass
- 2011: Pan Fried Hake
What interesting variations I shall certainly try! I love pesto but seem to have been a real stick-in-the-mud usually just using basil and pine nuts !!! Shall certainly be more adventurous . . . your variants come out cheaper as well 🙂 !
And with todays economic crisis, cheaper is always good 🙂
Yes we live on clay soil so our house which is an old wooden Queenslander moves with the seasons as the soil dries out and then expands in the rain. We have quite a few cracks in our 80-year old horsehair plaster walls! And the doors won’t shut 🙂 That’s life … A good pesto is a marvellous thing esp. if made with fresh garden produce.
That is so interesting Sherry! Your house has natural insulation from what I can gather?
No such thing as wall cracks but I live in a city that is just one meter above sea level and we face other problems….I love a good pesto but haven’t yet thought of adding rocket leaves in it.
Rising sea levels can be a whole other issue indeed!
So lovely that you have an abundance of greens for the picking. Love the sound of your recipe
Until last week when the puppy decided to dig them all up 🙁
I have to comment from my laptop which is why you are getting them all in one go. Our house was built in 1929 and is the original farmhouse for Linden. We are fortunate that we don’t get many cracks. Occasionally, we get an earth tremor which can cause a small crack but nothing much. A nice recipe. Thank you.
That is interesting to learn more about your house. It must have some unique features 🙂