Nettle Pesto
If you’ve never used nettle in the kitchen before, this recipe is a great place to start, and my favourite pesto to make early in the season, when basil and other garden herbs are not available yet.
Stinging nettle (Urtica Dioica) is one of Spring’s most abundant plants. It starts to grow early in April-May, and will continue to grow throughout the Summer. It can easily be harvested with a few precautions (shears, gloves and long sleeves to avoid its stings!). Harvest the top part of the plant by cutting just above a set of two leaves; this will encourage new growth and will allow you to get multiple harvests throughout the season.
Nettle is well loved for its numerous medicinal properties - it’s highly nourishing, extremely rich in iron, vitamins and other minerals - but is also delicious used in cooking. You can use it in pesto, soups, sautéed, or used in recipes as you would with greens like kale or swiss chard.
A few notes on the recipe:
- Most nettle pesto recipes found online will ask you to first blanch the nettle leaves in order to neutralize their stinging effect. I’ve never done so: I use tongs or gloves to handle the raw leaves, and their tiny hairs get crushed in the food processor, eliminating the stinging effect. This skips an unnecessary step and makes the pesto nice and fresh.
- This is by no means a traditional pesto - it tastes more “green” than the usual basil pesto - similar to a kale or arugula pesto for instance. But I love it because it really lets the nettle shine and be the hero. If you prefer a more traditional taste, feel free to sub a part of the nettle for some basil or other fresh herbs.
- If your nettle leaves are young (meaning the leaves are small and the stems are thin), you can use both the leaves and stems - everything will get crushed in the food processor. If however your nettle was harvested when the plant was a bit older, the stems will be thick and tough; if that’s the case, only keep the leaves.
- I like to inclure nutritional yeast in my vegan pestos; it gives a slight cheezy taste that reminds a bit of the parmesan and balances the flavours quite well. You can omit it but just know that the pesto will tastes a little more “green” without it.
Stinging Nettle Pesto
IngrEdients
3 cups (loosely packed) fresh nettle leaves - be careful; always use gloves or tongs when handling nettle; it stings!
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/3 cup toasted almonds*
1 tbsp white miso
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, or more to taste
2 tbsp nutritional yeast, or more to taste
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt, to taste
1-2 tbsp water
Optional: chili flakes
Instructions
Always use gloves or tongs when handling fresh nettle - if you touch it with bare hands, it will sting and you will feel its effect for a few hours.
Wearing gloves, wash the nettle under running water. In a food processor, combine the nettle, garlic, toasted almonds, miso, lemon juice (start with 1 1/2 tablespoons) and nutritional yeast. Blend to combine.
With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil. Stop the machine to scrape down the sides as needed. Add water, one tablespoon at a time and continue blending until you get a creamy texture. Taste and add salt, more lemon juice and/or chili flakes if necessary until it’s flavourful and well balanced. Serve with pasta, in a sandwich, as a dip, etc.
*To toast raw almonds, simply roast them in the oven at 350F until they become golden and fragrant - about 7-8 minutes. Slice an almond in half to check the inside: it should be slightly golden. Let cool completely.
