Tuesday, 9 June 2009

Organic Recipe - Nettle Pesto

Although I have managed to cultivate a small portion of my garden most of it is still wild. I love looking at it at this time of year, there are so many different grasses, wild flowers and edible treats growing I am always looking for new things to do with them. When I went out this afternoon to seek some young nettles for this pesto I discovered wild chamomile, elderflower and plenty of dandelions. Somebody also suggested that I look for Borage in the garden but as yet I've been able to spot any.

At the weekend I attended a cookery course at Ryland House Cookery School and this recipe is inspired by our host Anne Neary. It can be stirred through warm pasta or diluted with lemon juice and used as a salad dressing.

Ingredients
  • 1 large fistful of young nettles
  • 1 tbsp of pine nuts
  • 1 large clove of garlic crushed
  • 150ml Olive oil
  • 25g Parmesan Cheese
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
  • Remove the stems from the nettles (wear rubber gloves for this part!).
  • Blanche in boiling water for 1 minute to calm down the sting.
  • Drain well and dry with kitchen towel.
  • Put all the ingredients except the cheese into a blender and blend until smooth.
  • Stir in the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper to taste.

1 comment:

  1. that sounds good enough to try! Thanks for sharing the recipe with the rest of us...

    ReplyDelete