Goats curd crostini with walnut pesto

Hello everyone, I mentioned the book written by my friend Virginia Lloyd recently, The Young Widow's Book Of Home Improvement (A True Story Of Love And Renovation). I started reading it during the week and really I can't put it down. I think I will finish it this weekend. I highly, highly recommend it, Virginia is a beautiful writer and the story, about the early death of her husband and the aftermath for her, is fascinating. Nearly enough to tear me away from the kitchen....

I could spend hours poring over my recipes and there are just so many that I want to cook. If only I had a house full of people for whom to whip up all these lovely roasts, crumbles, soups, pies, pastas...I have spotted a recipe for a pear and chocolate crumble which sounds irrestible, so I'll have to find someone on whom I can unleash that and report back via this blog.

Anyway, this week's recipe, which I cut out from the SMH's Good Living supplement a couple of years ago, is something that I do very regularly to take to parties or picnics. In fact, it would also go well with soup, just like the ricotta toasts with last week's recipe. Ordinarily I don't approve of any kind of deviation from the traditional ingredients in pesto, but this works. Do bother to make your own pesto, I have only ever tried one commercial one that I liked, and that was in fact home made by someone to sell through their shop.

Have a great week, love from Jane xx

Goats curd crostini with walnut pesto

What you need:

• 1 baguette, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and halved
• 150g goats cheese curd (or cheese if you can't get curd)

Walnut pesto

• 1 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
• Olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180.
2. Lightly brush each side of sliced baguette with oil and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, turning once during cooking time, or until golden and crisp.
4. While the toasted bread is warm, rub one side of each slice with the cut garlic clove.
5. To make the pesto, process the walnuts, garlic, parmesan and parsley until well blended.
6. With the motor running, add the olive oil a little at a time until the pesto reaches a smooth consistency.
7. Season to taste.

To serve, pile the crostini on a serving platter. Place the goats curd and pesto in serving dishes and allow guests to top the crostini with curd and a little pesto.