Roast Tomato & Chickpea Salad

This recipe is very quick, and at the height of summer, when tomatoes and basil are at their peak, it's delicious. It's a great side dish, or a quick main with some extra veges and heavy bread to serve.


~Roast Tomato & Chickpea Salad~
2 punnets cherry tomatoes, or equivalent other tomatoes
1 tin chickpeas, drained
150g fetta
large handful basil, torn

Cut tomatoes in half (or quarters if large tomatoes) and roast until they collapse.

Mix through chickpeas, fetta and basil and serve while warm.

Basil Pesto

This recipe was given to me by a girl who had the most glorious wild tangly hair. She looked like Helen Bonham Carter. I've changed it over the years because I like less oil and garlic.

The basil bushes are enormous after a month of summer rain. So over the last few days I've made many batches of this and frozen most of it for later in the year. A lot has been frozen in icecube trays to use in cooking. The rest will defrost well for pasta, dips and winter breakfast on toast. I've made so much that I'm sick of the taste of it. Because you have to taste test each lot. With homemade bread of course.

Basil Pesto
100g basil leaves, picked
50g pinenuts, toasted
4 tab parmesan, grated
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
150 ml olive oil
juice of 2 small limes or one lemon

Place basil, pinenuts, parmesan and garlic in a food processor and process till mostly chopped. Pour the oil in with the motor running. Add the juice and process briefly to combine. Stir through salt and pepper if you like it.