It's been a rainy couple of weeks, by my nasturtiums don't seem to mind. Last night I gathered a few handfuls of stalks and leaves, remembering that somewhere on the internet recently I'd seen reference to nasturtium pesto, further compounding my awe at this magnificent flower. Nasturtiums are incredible - they keep pests off your cabbages, and every part of them is edible. I've enthused about the seeds before (more than once, in fact) and on at least one occasion I've thrown the leaves and stems into an experimental salad, but never cooked with them before. Is there anything they can't do?
Most recipes for pesto insist on pine nuts but to be honest I don't know what those are or where to get them. The Co-op don't sell them, and I wasn't really in the mood for a trek over to Tesco for just one item they might not have (these are uncertain times), so I decided to skip that ingredient. The only other essential is apparently garlic, and it just so happened that I'd snipped off a garlic scape I missed a few weeks back when gathering the nasturtium leaves. I pickled the scapes, by the way; here's a picture of them:
Branston pickle jars are perfect for recycling: they have a sturdy, non-plastic lid, which means it can be heated in the oven (to sterilise) and sealed tightly atop whatever you pickle. So thank you, Branston. Anyway, back to the pesto.
Barely any cooking was needed, other than softening them for less than a minute in some hot water, which I then drained off the chopped leaves - stalks and all -
I mixed in a long and lazy glob of olive oil, and chopped the stay scape. A garlic scape, by the way, originally looks like this:
It's the long tendril that grows out of the plant about a month or so before the main bulb is ready to harvest. Chop it off and use it as you see fit. Tastes very garlicky. Obviously.
All that was left was the blend and mix into pasta, which is what I did:
It didn't taste amazing - surprisingly mild, in fact, given the punch that raw nasturtium leaves can pack, and the garlic, so I sprinkled in some chilli salt. Kick. A satisfactory lunch.
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Nasturtiums are a wonderful flower, salad crop, pest controller aren't they, and beautiful too. Although they can be very invasive and love to set their seeds to make their presence known for many years after the initial planting ... which is no bad thing.
ReplyDeleteYou should find Pine Nuts in the baking aisle at the Co-op, they are tiny little creamy coloured nuts and pretty expensive. Plain cashews are a good alternative, although I find almost any nut works well in a pesto, as does virtually any edible leaf.
Yeah, I've found most of the nasturtiums that grew this year were in the spots I grew them last year - oddly enough most of the seeds I retained for sowing this spring didn't come up. So maybe I should just leave them to their own devices! Happy with them being somewhat invasive, considering :)
DeleteSunflower seeds are my inexpensive go-to 'nut' for pesto. I've never tried nasturtiums, but i can see how they would work. Experimenting with cooking what grows mad in the garden is a worthy and joyful endeavour!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more Jo. It's a constant source of amusement and fascination to me how many plants there are growing "wild" all around us that are edible and nutritious, but for whatever reason we just ignore them. Free food for everyone!
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