Sicilian Pesto

In a shallow frying pan, toast the almonds for approximately 5 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside and leave to cool.

Into a food processor, add the basil leaves, garlic and sun dried tomatoes. Blitz until combined and very finely chopped.

Add the almonds and whizz until the mixture is a smooth paste.

Add a little of the olive oil at a time until you are happy with the consistency. You don’t want your pesto to be too sloppy but at the same time it has to have movement, so you’re looking for a consistency somewhere in between.

Once you are happy with the thickness, give the mixture one final pulse to make sure everything is nicely combined and then transfer to a dish.

Fold the grated parmesan cheese into the mixture. This will thicken the pesto so you may wish to add a little more oil at this stage just to loosen things up again.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Finito!