This nettle pesto is astonishingly versatile and can be adapted to whatever you have in your cupboard. If you can’t get your hands on pine nuts – sunflower seeds, cashews and almonds all make great alternatives or, for a dairy and nut-free version, nutritional yeast is our reliable vegan go-to.
You’ll find the nettle adds an almost umami note to the more traditional basil-only pesto and we love how it turbo-charges pasta sauces, stacked sandwiches and silky risottos with calcium, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C.
We used tagliatelle on this occasion, but any long pasta would work, and garnished with edible wisteria petals for a little self-indulgent moment!
Serves – 4
Foraged Ingredients
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- 5 – 10 nettle tops, as young and green as you can find, and without buds or flowers
Other Ingredients
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- A handful of pine nuts, toasted
- A handful of fresh greens, we recommend spinach, basil or parsley
- 2 generous glugs of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- The zest and juice of a small lemon
- Around 3 spoons of parmesan (grated)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Take a basket – and gloves to avoid a sting – and forage 5-10 nettle tops. These are cut from the upper 6-8 leaves of the stem.
- Rinse in cool water to wash off any unwanted passengers and blanch for 1-2 minutes to remove the sting and bitter notes.
- Next, heat a pan over gentle heat and cook your pine nuts until golden brown, keeping a close eye so they don’t catch.
- In a food processor, add the green leaves, oil, garlic, zest, lemon juice, and parmesan and blitz until a rough paste forms.
- To this, add the blanched, dried nettles and toasted nuts, adding a bit at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
- Season to taste and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Expert’s Tip
For those looking to offset the slightly more bitter note of nettles picked later in the season, we recommend blanching the leaves for an extra minute and adding a dash of high-quality balsamic vinegar or pomegranate molasses.