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Leftover rocket pesto with stilton and walnut

February 14, 2014

Leftover rocket walnut and blue cheese pesto

Shortly after New Year, I stumbled across one of my all time favourite bargains ever. Half moons of blue stilton marked down to £1 when they’re originally been £8 each at full price.

I bought three, cut them into wedges, wrapped these in paper and put them in the freezer. Possibly freezing Stilton isn’t the best way to preserve its flavour but at this price I didn’t care. Probably I won’t need to buy any more blue cheese this year!

The price of everyday cheese as gone up by stealth. A couple of years ago, if you shopped around you could buy cheddar for £5 per kilo but today it’s nearer double that.

Worse still is the insidious size reduction of pre-packed products. Cheese, now commonly sold in 350g packs rather than 400g (and before that 440g and prior to that 500g!!) is not unique here. Everything from bottles of cola to bags of bagels has had pack sizes shaved down whilst prices remain static hoping the consumer won’t notice.

stilton-bargain.jpg

I regularly comment to my husband that it’s
a) my mental arithmetic
b) a knowledge how to cook from scratch
c) flexibility to bulk buy when items are genuinely on offer
… that keeps our shopping bills down.

If you weren’t so great at maths, not an experienced cook and on a very rigid budget it would be very different.

So I was delirious almost to find this blue Stilton priced at the equivalent of around £2 per kilo. Cheese hasn’t been that cheap this century probably.

My other thrifty habit recently has been to buy pairs of bags of rocket when they’re on offer (or indeed marked down miserable basil plants) and what doesn’t get eaten in salads or sandwiches gets whizzed up my own pesto before it turns floppy. Generally a small tub of home made pesto will stay in my fridge for up to a week and sometimes I freeze portions too.

Ways to use homemade pesto

Tossed with pasta
Spread it on toasted bread such as bruschetta or ciabatta
As a pizza sauce instead of tomato
Spread on tortilla wraps
Mixed into salad dressings
Mixed into cheese sauces
Stuff chicken breasts
Coat grilled fish fillets

Traditionally pesto would be made from basil, parmesan, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil however recently I have ringed the changes with the left over rocket leaves, used different oils, nuts and cheese. You can also make pesto mixes using roasted peppers, aubergines or sundried tomatoes rather than green leaves and herbs.

Hence this particular mix today:

Leftover rocket pesto with walnut and stilton

Half a bag of rocket
A handful of walnuts
Some chunks of blue Stilton
Olive oil
and of course garlic.

I’m not specifying exact quantities because these aren’t rigid. Simply blitz the lot in a handheld blender until you’re happy with the texture. Use it immediately or store in the fridge or freezer.

Do you ever make your own pesto?

I’m sharing this pesto with these events:

201402061706.jpg Credit-Crunch-Munch speedy-suppers-veg-imp.jpg

To Fiona hosting Elizabeth’s No Waste Food Challenge (using up rocket),  Helen & Camilla’s Credit Crunch Munch (bargain cheese) this month hosted by My Golden Pear, and finally mine and Katie’s new Speedy Suppers event for 30 minute meals.

 

 

Filed Under: Eating In Tagged With: cheese, Italian, pesto, rocket, Stilton, walnuts

Boursin beef baguette

September 5, 2013

Boursin beef baguette - 5

Bashing the hell out of a lump of meat is always a fun task. Ted came running downstairs to see what all the noise was about.

You can make a couple of flash fry steaks go a long way if you cut them into strips for sandwiches. I stretched two of these steaks into lunch for 3 adults and 1 Ted with two steaks left over for a future supper. That’s the child size portion above if you think I’ve short changed anyone – the grown ups ate twice this amount.

Boursin beef baguette - 1 Boursin beef baguette - 2
Boursin beef baguette - 4 Boursin beef baguette - 3

Simply spread chunks of fresh baguette with butter and cream cheese – today I’ve used Boursin with Black Pepper which goes beautifully with beef and fresh rocket.

This is one of my favourite post-supermarket Saturday lunches because it only takes about 10 minutes to prepare but feels special enough to celebrate the weekend!

Do you have a special favourite lunch after buying the groceries?

boursinbeefbagPINT

With thanks to Boursin for samples of cream cheese. Say hi to them on Twitter @boursincheese.

Filed Under: Eating In Tagged With: baguette, beef, Boursin, cream cheese, pepper, rocket, sandwiches, steak

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