Recipe to stay disease free: Basil pesto

There's hardly a more delicious way to enjoy good fats, courtesy of pine nuts and olive oil. Use on pasta, spoon into vegetable soup, drizzle over sliced tomatoes, try it as an omelet filling or on a vegetable pizza.

A diet rich in monunsaturated fats such as the ones found in olive oil, nuts and seeds is known to help protect against many chronic diseases. This basil pesto recipe has all the right healthy ingredients plus flavour. The preparation time is just 10 minutes with a short cooking time of two to four minutes and you have enough pesto to serve 10.

• 75 ml (1/3 c) pine nuts
• 750 ml (3 c) lightly packed fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
• 3 small or 2 large cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 50 ml (1/4 c) extra-virgin olive oil
• 125 ml (1/2 c) freshly grated
• Parmesan cheese

1. Toast the pine nuts in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool.
2. In a food processor, combine the basil, the garlic, the salt, the pepper and the pine nuts and process until the pine nuts are ground.
3. With the motor running, gradually add the oil through the feeder tube, processing until the mixture forms a paste.
4. Add the cheese and pulse until blended.
5. Transfer to a bowl.

The pesto will keep, covered with a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly on the surface to keep it from turning brown in the refrigerator for up to two days or in the freezer for up to six months.