I recently moved back to Copenhagen, having lived in Sicily for the winter where I had an abundance of fresh produce to eat, Copenhagen offers a different story: I now live primarily off food I have found (or foraged) from the bins of supermarkets. After two weeks I started to miss something fresh. Whilst out running with Angus I spotted a fresh patch of nettles, so I picked a very large carrier bag of nettle tips and then Angus led me to a large patch of wild garlic…boom.
Wash the nettles!
First step was to blanche the nettles (after washing them thoroughly) and then I started to blend them (after getting rid of most of the liquid). To aid the process I added some olive oil (that we brought from Sicily) once all the nettles were blended I chucked some wild garlic in to blend.
Blanching
Following this, cheese from the bins was also added to the mix, with some salt.
Lastly I toasted loads of sunflower seeds and added that to the mix, blending for a while but leaving some slightly intact, I enjoy a bit of a nutty texture. The pesto got spooned into jars and then olive oil poured on top to seal to preserve. The pesto is an outrageous green colour and has a delicious flavour, the wild garlic and nettles complement each other generously.
Deep in the blender
I didn’t measure anything for this pesto, and I think it is hard to go wrong really, just watch for the consistency and try it on bread before finishing.
Happy spring!
The Living Narratives 