Nettles Pesto

This is so fresh, so wonderful and a great alternative to the usual Pesto (which is based on basil). It goes without saying that there is such satisfaction in creating something out of what you can forage in the parks and fields, and the colour is superb!

Ingredients:

• 230gr nettles boiled and squeezed

• 60gr mixed nuts (I used almonds and hazelnuts)

• 60gr parmesan

• 6 garlic cloves

• A good slug of anchovy paste

• 100gr olive oil

Method:

TIP: Ideally nettles should be foraged before they bloom (in Ireland this means up to the end of June)

• Collect the equivalent of a full shopping bag of wild nettles, trying to get just the leaves

TIP: use those long, heavy yellow kitchen gloves to protect yourself from being prickled

• Wash them very well in a full sink of water at least 3 or 4 times (keep the gloves on!) - while you wash them, ensure you take out any non-leaf element such as stalks or other grass etc that may have ended up together with them

• Place them in a large pot of boiling water and boil them for 10 minutes

• Drain them and dunk them in a pot of stone cold water with some ice: doing this will preserve their deep colour

• Once cold, drain them and squeeze them very well (they won't prickle any more at this point)

• Mix the nuts, the garlic and the parmesan in a food processor as fine as you can

• Add the anchovie paste, the nettles and the olive oil and blitz it all up until it becomes like a very thick paste

TIP: add a little bit more of olive oil only if it's needed for the food processor to blitz well

• Pour the paste into sterilized glass jars (this quantity gave me 2 jars like the one below) pressing it down well to avoid air pockets and cover the top with olive oil

• You can keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or you can portion it and freeze it

TIP: 1 full tsp is enough for 1 portion - like for any pesto: put the paste into an empty bowl and mix it with 1 tsp of water from your boiling pasta pot

TIP: you can serve this with any type and shape of pasta, or with gnocchi (the Italian potato dumplings)