Nasturtiums are often over looked as a food source but in a bad year on an allotment they can really come into their own. The flowers and leaves can be used in salads, the buds can be blanched then pickled in vinegar for use as capers, and as I’ve found, you can make quite a tasty Nasturtium leaf pesto
Recipe Nasturtium leaf pesto
140g Nasturtium leaves – blanched for 30 seconds in boiling water, then refreshed in cold water
7 tablespoons of Olive oil
3 tablespoons of toasted pine nuts
25-50g- Parmesan (optional)
2-4 cloves of garlic (depending on taste)
In a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar grind the toasted pine nuts and garlic
Place the resulting mixture in a food processor along with the remaining ingredients and mix!
Put it in a sterilized jar or use it straight away on pasta etc. I have experimented with this by not blanching the leaves and it means it’s slightly harder to mix but still makes a perfectly acceptable pesto.
They’ll take over your garden
They’ll grow like the wind
Plant them just once
And they’ll grow again and again
Old English Rhyme – written by Dave Hamilton Sept 2008
Article written by Dave Hamilton. Dave has now left Selfsufficientish but you can catch up with him on davehamilton.me.uk or on twitter @davewildish