Nettle Pesto
One of the things the Well Seasoned team loves doing in the kitchen is adapting classic recipes to make use of the best of British produce. Just because a dish originated abroad doesn’t mean we are obliged to stick to the original ingredients; by applying a bit of thought and we can usually come up with a home grown alternative that is equally good (or even better!)
This month we started working in earnest on the Well Seasoned allotment. From now on, all through the Summer we'll be fighting a battle on the fringes of the allotment with that most common of British weeds, the stinging nettle. Nettles thrive in the newly broken soil and sunshine. We decided to kill two birds with one stone by cutting them back and using some of them in this delicious alternative to traditional Italian pesto.
You will need:
Nettle pesto (1 small jar)
- Four large handfuls of stinging nettle leaves (pick the youngest leaves at the top of the nettles and use rubber gloves!)
- A clove of garlic
- Grated 100g mature Cheddar (or other hard british cheese), finely grated
- 200ml rapeseed oil or olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
Cooking instructions
Using gloves, blanch the leaves for a full minute in boiling water. This will remove the stings. Drain the leaves and, using a hand blender, blend them with the garlic into a thick paste. Add the grated cheese, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper, and gently stir together. Now whilst continuing to stir, gradually pour in oil until you have a loose paste of pesto consistency. Scrape the pesto out of the processor and place in a jar. Add enough additional oil to cover. The pesto should keep for a month in the fridge. We used the first of our batch as a base for a great bruschetta (just add some good thick toast, a couple of ripe Kent tomatoes and finely chopped red onion.
