The nettles combine beautifully with
hazelnuts and a British hard goats’
cheese for a wonderfully savoury
take on pesto. Eat with good bread
and more slices of the goats’ cheese.
2 large handfuls nettle tips
80g hazelnuts, blanched and
toasted
80g hard mature goats’ cheese,
finely grated
150ml extra virgin olive oil
Juice of ¼ lemon
1 To blanch the nettles and take the
sting out of them, set a pot of water
to boil and have a big bowl or a basin
of cold water nearby. Drop in the
nettle tips and time them for exactly
1 min, then scoop them out and
plunge into the cold water – they’ll
now be safe to handle.
2 Remove them from the cold water
and squeeze them dry, then press
them with kitchen roll to soak up
excess water. Chop them roughly.
3 Put the hazelnuts into a mortar and
crush with a pestle, then add the
nettle tips and incorporate them, then
the cheese and then finally dribble in
olive oil until you have almost the
runniness you want.
4 Squeeze in the lemon juice and
season with salt and pepper to taste.
Use immediately or spoon into a
sterilised jar and top with a slick of
olive oil. This will keep in the fridge for
a week or so.
Nettle pesto