Wonderful White Beans with Rocket Pesto

I'm fairly sure everyone has a couple of tins of beans knocking about in the back of their cupboards and whilst they can be fairly boring, I'm here to prove that with a little jazzing up you can turn them into a banging side dish that will have you going back for more and more!

Basically all this recipe entails is cooking the beans in some stock to impart a bit of flavour and then stirring through a quick homemade pesto to really boost the excitement factor. I have this with pretty much anything - on top of a salad, alongside grilled meat and fish, as part of a buffet - the possibilities are endless!

Wonderful White Beans with Rocket Pesto
Serves 4-6 as a side

3 x 400g tins mixed white beans (such as cannellini or butter beans), drained and rinsed 
500ml vegetable stock 
75g wild rocket 
25g fresh parsley leaves 
1 garlic clove, crushed 
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 
50g pecorino, grated

Put the beans into a medium pan and cover with the stock. Season to taste and warm gently over a medium heat for a few minutes. Drain and tip into a bowl. 

Whizz the rocket, parsley, garlic and extra-virgin olive oil to make a pesto. Stir in the cheese, season and mix with the warm beans before serving.