At Jones Food Company, we supply vertically farmed basil, basil pesto and basil dressing to a wide range of customers all over the country, from large national retailers to vegan supermarkets and delis. 

Highlighting the exceptional quality of our produce, one of our wonderful customers is leading Italian delivery brand Pasta Evangelists - a service offering delicious pasta ingredients and recipes straight to customer’s homes. The company also runs The Pasta Bar at Harrods prestigious Dining Hall.

The mission is to help people enjoy a five star trattoria experience, with less waste. Enter JFC..

Having already converted to completely recyclable and compostable packaging with a ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ ethos, by choosing JFC to supply basil for its recipes, Pasta Evangelists is taking another step towards a more sustainable future. Vertical farming uses fewer resources that are damaging to the environment and contributing to climate change. Growing inside in a controlled environment hugely reduces crop waste, uses up to 90% less water than traditional farming methods, and utilises renewable energy.

Here you can find Pasta Evangelist’s delicious Pesto alla Genovese recipe below, which uses our high quality vertically farmed basil.

If you love this recipe and share it with your friends on your socials, tag @pastaevangelists and @jonesfoodco_vf - we’d love to see!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of basil - cleaned and chopped
• 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
• ¼ cup pine nuts
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Start by gently toasting the pine nuts in a dry frying pan over medium-high heat until they turn slightly brown in colour and are fragrant. Keep them moving to prevent burning. In the case that any get dark brown, be sure to remove them before adding to the basil as they will impart a burnt flavour to the pesto.
• Put the basil, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, minced garlic clove and 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil to a pestle and mortar and grind until creamy
• Add the pine nuts and grind until they start to break down and combine with the oil and basil mixture. You should have a creamy yet slightly chunky consistency.
• Drizzle the remaining olive oil and continue to grind until you have a creamy paste. We recommend leaving it a little rustic as this will help it adhere to the pasta
• The pesto is best eaten straight away, but can be kept in clean mason jars and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.