I have so many nasturtiums (nasty urchins?!) in the garden at the moment, that I decided to make a lovely vibrant, green and tasty pesto out of them the other day.
Very easy recipe below. (If you have your own recipe let me know how you make it, or tell me how you get on with this one.)
You may have enjoyed the peppery leaves and flowers in salads, but this takes it one step further, and put into jars, keeps up to two weeks in the fridge.
The peppery taste comes from the mustard oils present in the plant, and makes the pesto extra zingy.
Mustard oils are apparantly antiobiotic, antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial.
(Garlic has similar properties does a pretty good job in this field too!)
The leaves are also high in iron and Vit C.
Who knew that eating this humble plant, which grows just about anywhere, would be so beneficial, not to mention delicious?!
Ingredients
Quantities are approximate depending on your taste.
About 4 handfuls of healthy leaves and 2 of flowers
Around 240ml or 8.5 fl oz olive oil
5 cloves garlic or to taste
Around 150g walnuts, or you could try cashews, and mix in some sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds too
Around 150g grated Parmesan cheese
Method
Wash the leaves and flowers thoroughly, dry, and tear up any large leaves.
Put it all together in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
Pack in to small jars.
You can vary the amounts of cheese, garlic, and nuts to your taste.
If you have walnuts and seeds then you have the bonus of omega oils, essential fatty acids, which can help with inflammation amongst many other things.
Nutty, cheesy "homegrown" nasturtium pesto!
The pesto with pasta and home grown courgettes and runner beans -I love summer!
