Fettuccine with pesto, potato & green beans

The start of summer means the start of homemade basil pesto. Homemade pesto is a million times better than anything you will buy in the stores and is not very hard. I always make pesto with a mortar and pestle. It allows me to control the consistency and I like being able to see it all come together right in front of your eyes rather than whizzing everything in a blender. This recipe, like many others, is straight Italian Food Safari (Lucio Galletto) and adding potatoes and green beans is a nice variation to traditional basil pesto dishes.

Creamy cauliflower mash

My new fortnightly cooking challenge is to use an ingredient I have never (or rarely) cooked with. This week I saw cauliflower and thought it would be a great start seeing I can’t remember the last time I had it any where. Apparently this mash has less carbs that potato mash so it’s great for your health and surprisingly tasty.

For a smoother texture, place the steamed cauliflower in a food processor. I only had a traditional masher.