The nettle patches around here are in fine form at the moment. For the past week or so, I’ve been telling myself off for not carrying gardening gloves and a large plastic bag when I go for a dog walk. Finally, I remembered to do it yesterday and picked myself a bagful of bright green, vibrant nettle tips.
I’ve previously shared recipes for nettle soup and nettle loaf. This time, I’m making a batch of nettle pesto.
The nettles take the place of basil and I’ve replaced the more traditional pine nuts with walnuts.
The taste and smell is much earthier than traditional pesto but can be used in exactly the same way. It’s a very versatile store cupboard ingredient. I like it with an extra glug of olive oil and mixed through plain spaghetti then finished with a spoonful of grated Parmesan. I also like adding a few small dollops of pesto to the top of a pizza just before putting into in the oven.
Justin thinks it’s great with roasted or pan fried meats too – and has just made chicken breast wrapped in smoked ham and filled with nettle pesto butter for this evening’s meal.
Nettle pesto
Ingredients
- Carrier bag-full of nettle tips
- 2 cloves garlic
- 50 g/2oz Parmesan
- 75 g2½oz walnuts
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 5-8 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Bring a saucepan of water to the boil - enough water to be able to submerge all the nettles
- Put a large colander into the kitchen sink
- Blanch the nettles for about 30 seconds, using a wooden spoon to push the leaves down into the water
- Carefully pour the nettles into the colander in the sink and allow all the water to drain away. Allow to cool fully
- Finely slice the garlic and grate the Parmesan
- Put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse for about a minute
- Decant into sterilised glass jars
