Post swim recipe: Pesto

Pair this simple homemade pesto with fresh pasta cooked on a camping stove – the perfect post swim recipe when swim hiking. 

I like to keep it simple when hiking to a swim spot, but still want a meal to taste delicious. It’s amazing what you achieve with a simple gas burner, a saucepan, a bag of pasta and a dollop of this. Pre-make this super easy pesto then pop a jar of it in your rucksack. It will feel decadent when you take a pit stop.

Ingredients

Fresh basil – one large bunch (approx 30g)
Spinach – one large handful (this is optional, but makes the pesto go further, and adds nutrients)
Cashews – 100g
Nutritional yeast – 1 heaped tablespoon (adds a nutty and cheesy flavour, and texture as well as extra nutritional benefits)
Juice of 1 lime
Salt – a good pinch to taste
Garlic – 2 cloves
Olive oil – 150ml (ish)

Method

• Spread the cashews on a baking tray and bake at 160C for approx 8 mins, shaking half way through.

• Once toasted, add the cashews and all the other ingredients into a blender jug or bowl. Add the olive oil slowly, while blitzing until you reach your preferred consistency.

• Using recycled jam jars, store in your fridge until ready to use.

• Yes, its that easy!

*During wild garlic season you can swap out the basil for foraged wild garlic leaves.

Recipe by Anna Southwell, Loves Cafe, Weston-super-Mare. Find and follow LOVES café on Instagram @loveswsm, and find her previous recipe for Massaman Dhal here. This is an extract from the August issue of Outdoor Swimmer.