Broccoli Pesto for Bread or As Side Dish

Would you believe this is great? And you can eat it with bread, especially your own fresh bread? This is also a great side dish with any meal. You could substitute the cheese with another flavourful type, and you could also use toasted almonds instead of hazelnuts, or leave out the nuts entirely. As a dip: use all ingredients. As a side dish: serve warm and use ingredients to taste, but lemon juice is a must! Taste it in the processor -- your taste has the final say!

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 3-6

Ingredients

• 1  lb fresh broccoli (including stems, sliced)
• 1  ounce fresh basil
• 1  ounce fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 3 -4  garlic cloves (or shop-bought minced garlic)
• 2  ounces toasted hazelnuts, flaked (flaked almonds can be substituted)
• 5  ounces gruyere cheese, grated (Parmesan can be substituted)
• 2 -3  tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
•  fruity  virgin olive oil or  avocado oil
•  salt
•  black pepper, freshly ground

Directions

1. It's best to use a head of broccoli, as the nutritious stems are also used for this.
2. Trim the stalk ends, then slice off thinly into a pot with a little water.
3. Parboil the stalks in boiling water, then add the florets. Cook for only about 3 minutes or until still al dente, then drain.
4. Rinse basil and parsley and dry lightly in a clean kitchen towel.
5. Put the broccoli, basil, parsley, garlic, nuts, lemon juice and cheese in a blender and pulse.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Please DO taste!).
7. Add olive oil in a thin stream through the funnel until the processor can handle the ingredients and the broccoli pesto reaches a thick, paste-like consistency -- or to your taste. You want a firm consistency -- about 1/4 - 1/3 cup will be enough.
8. Can be used at room temperature as a spread on bread, rolls and crackers, or as a warmed-up side dish.
9. SERVINGS: as a spread it will obviously serve more people than when served as a side dish, so that is a little hard to calculate!
10. TIME TO MAKE: I added in the time needed to toast the nuts in a pan.