Happy 2015! Have some rocket and walnut pesto

Happy New Year!! 2015… wow. Sometimes I feel we should be living in a science fiction-esque futuristic world, but then I remember we can’t teleport yet. How sad.

Anyway… I digress. 2014 was a fantastic year for The Swindian, both personally and professionally. I moved to Munich and back to London, had a lot of fun with many good friends, but mainly ate a bunch of good food. The highlight of the year was definitely being shortlisted for the UK Blog Awards 2015 – thank you so much to everyone who voted. There will be an award ceremony in April, so watch this space!

I also got Instagram, which is still confusing (follow me here) and I published a total of 59 posts, which means I over-delivered on my target of publishing once a week! The top 3 posts of 2014 were:

1. Mushroom risotto in rose wine
2. Hard-boiled eggs in spicy cream sauce
3. Spicy chicken-halloumi tortillas

Anyway, let’s get to more important things. Last night for New Year’s Eve, we decided to keep it snacky and so I made some hummus (using this recipe), puff pastry with salmon and creme fraiche, lomo from Spain and then a new experiment: Rocket and walnut pesto. This was taken from one of my new cookbooks (I have at least 4 to work through), published by Polpo, a great restaurant in London (review here). I actually added a bit too much garlic (I know, I didn’t think it was possible either…), so I’ve reduced the quantity in the recipe below. The original recipe didn’t have cream cheese, but I felt it added a nice texture to an otherwise grainy dip. We spread it on a variety of different crackers, but you could use bread too, and of course you could put it on pasta if you are so inclined.

• 75g rocket
• 2 tbsp crushed walnut halves (I just used brute force)
• 3 tbsp grated Parmesan
• 4-5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• Dash of water
• 4 tbsp full fat cream cheese

Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend.

That’s it.

Serve with crackers, bread or pasta. Happy New Year!