Almond and mint pesto with spaghetti

Put the almonds in a pan of water and bring to the boil. Drain, then return to the saucepan and cover with cold water. When cool enough to handle, flick off the skins.

Crush the garlic cloves in a mortar with most of the mint leaves. This extracts the full range of scents and flavours from the garlic and mint, but if you don’t have a mortar and pestle, use a food processor for the whole operation.

Drop the tomatoes into a saucepan of boiling water and leave for around 12 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and drop into a bowl of cold water. Remove the skins. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, discarding cores, and flick out the seeds. Chop finely and drain in a sieve.

Transfer the mint and garlic to a food processor and add the almonds, olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Process until nuts are very finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and blend in the cheese, then add most of the tomatoes. Toss with pasta. Dot pasta with remaining diced tomato and mint leaves and serve.