A homemade English Pesto recipe. Cheap and easy pesto

I absolutely love Italian Food and in particular making my own pesto's to serve with pasta however have to admit that making pesto can get on the rather expensive side.
Today I decided that I would try and make a more English version of Pesto. Traditionally pesto is made with Parmeggiano Reggiano hard cheese but I had some grated Cheddar cheese left in the fridge which was calling to be used. Especially as I thought I still had some Parmesan Cheese in the freezer from a previous meal but didn't!.

Ingredients you'll need for my Homemade English Cheddar Pesto Recipe (serves 4 people)
1 Bunch of Fresh Basil Leaves (one supermarket bag worth so about 30g)
1 Bunch of Fresh Sage Leaves (one supermarket bag worth so about 30g)
50 grams of Grated Cheddar Cheese
25 grams of Walnut Pieces (or any other nut of your choice)
50 ml of Olive Oil

All the ingredients you'll need to make an English Pesto

The simple steps to making your English Pesto

1. Remove the large shoots from your basil and sage bunches

2. Chop the remaining sage and basil leaves into relatively small pieces and transfer to a blender

3. Add the grated Cheddar cheese and Walnut pieces to the blender

4. Pour about half the Olive Oil into the blender and commence blending

5. Slowly pour the remaining Olive Oil into the blender between short bursts of blending until the misture flows through the blender and becomes a relatively thick puree.

6 Now you have your English Pesto 

Your blended |English Cheddar Pesto 

The Next question is- What to serve your English Cheddar Pesto with?

I love pesto mixed into pasta. Today I served ith mixed into some potato Gnocci however find it to be great with Tagliatelle as well especially if you want to add small pieces of chicken. 

My English Pesto Served with Potato Gnocci

Today I decided to serve my pesto with Vietnamese River Cobbler which was on sale in the local Tesco for a relatively low price. Vietnamese River Cobbler is similar in look and taste to Cod and serving a light white fish with a strongly flavoured pesto sauce is always a good idea to me.

Here's the finished article

Vietnamese River Cobbler with English Pesto and Potato Gnocci

Vietnamese River Cobbler with English Pesto and Potato Gnocci 

Making your own Pesto on a budget

• You can simply make your own herb garden to effectively grow your own pesto. A bunch of basil and a few other choice herbs can be used to add additional falvour elements. 
• Most people already have a large bottle of Olive Oil at home
• Cheddar is relatively inexpensive and as i've proven can be used for pesto
• Nuts keep for ages so have some handy in a cupboard.