Preheat oven to Fan Oven 180°C/200°C/400°F/Gas 6

Slice the top quarter off a whole bulb of garlic. Put in the centre of a piece of foil.

Loosely gather the foil around the garlic, pour over ½ teaspoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Seal the foil around the top of the garlic, place on a baking tray and put in the oven for 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the confit out of the cloves. (If you cannot wait and the garlic is still hot, I use rubber gloves to protect my hands.)

To toast in a frying pan: heat a pan over a moderate heat. Add the pine nuts (no oil or anything else) and cook, stirring every now and then, until the pine nuts look a little browner than before. It should only take 2 – 3 minutes; do not take your eye off the pan as they can burn easily and quickly.

To cook in the oven: you can do this as the garlic confit cooks. Scatter the pine nuts on a baking tray (no oil or anything else) and cook in the oven for between 3 and 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Give the pan a shake after a 2 minutes and check how they are cooking. Ovens vary and they may already be done. Also, the nuts on the edges of the pan may cook more quickly than those in the centre, so give it a good shake or stir to ensure even cooking.

Whether you have toasted in the frying pan or on a baking tray, transfer to a different bowl as soon as they are cooked. This is to prevent further browning.

Using a food processor, add the ingredients in the order shown below, blitzing in between each addition:

·     Parmesan cheese

·     Cheddar cheese

·     Pine nuts

·     Basil

·     Garlic confit

·     ½ the olive oil, salt, sugar and pepper

·     Remaining olive oil

Process until thoroughly mixed and quite smooth. You may need to stop the processor and scrape down the sides.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Transfer the pesto into a sterilised jam jar and seal with a lid.

The pesto will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Pour a little olive oil over the top of the pesto each time you use it and return it to the fridge.

Alternatively, pesto freezes well. Transfer into an ice cube tray, pop the cubes out when frozen, bag and label and keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.