Something simple: yup, *toast* – haute cuisine, indeed.
Instead of me describing how I made a pesto, you can just watch this beautiful Italian make it instead: http://thepastachannel.com/pesto-sauce-pasta/
(We only disagree in that I’d rather use “too much” garlic…
Oh, and she made this in 5 minutes and it took me half an hour. :-)
Hmm, can I count the mortar and pestle effort as my second workout today?