Rocket Pesto
Last week I had the pleasure of trying out a four day cookery course at River Cottage and on one of the days, I got to enjoy a Nasturtium Pesto which was made from the flowers growing in the River Cottage garden. If you’ve ever tasted Nasturtium flowers you’ll know they have a slightly peppery and fiery taste which is delicious.
With a lack of Nasturtium flowers at home, I have come up with a similar pesto using rocket which is just as tasty. If you wanted to make this Vegan friendly then just substitute the parmesan. It's delicious served as an accompaniment to steak or fish or stirred into pasta or risotto.
DIFFICULTY: 1/5
Serves 4
- 35g Rocket
- Small handful Fresh Basil Leaves
- ½ Clove Garlic
- 30g Pine Nuts
- 20g Fresh Parmesan
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 3-4 tbsp Olive Oil (I used Extra Virgin)
- Salt & Black Pepper to season
Takes 5 minutes to make
- Peel and loosely chop the garlic and add it to a hand blender with the pine nuts, basil and rocket (you could use a pestle & mortar but it will take longer).
- Grate in the parmesan and add 3 tbsp of olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper.
- Blitz to a rough paste and taste.
- Add the salt at this point and the remaining olive oil if you want the pesto slightly looser.
