Recipe: Easy Mustard & Mint Pesto
Fresh mint mellows mustard’s spice in this easy pesto.
Recipe and photos: Elien Lewis
I love growing mustard — it’s a great cut-and-come-again vegetable that’s resistant to cold weather and many garden pests. Mustard’s purple, green or frilly leaves are spicy and peppery when eaten fresh, but they lose their pungency when cooked or mixed with other ingredients.
Garden tip: Extend the mustard harvest by picking the outer leaves and leaving the middle to keep growing.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups fresh mustard greens
½ cup fresh mint leaves
1 clove garlic
50g parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Makes about 1 cup.
METHOD
Combine mustard greens, mint, garlic, parmesan, lemon juice, pine nuts and salt in a food processor. Whiz, pouring in the olive oil as the motor runs, until it forms a paste. Add a little more oil if it’s too thick.
Season to taste with black pepper — and more salt, if needed. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and use within two days.
Try the pesto over hot pasta with extra grated parmesan cheese.
This is an extract from special edition, Sustainability Through the Seasons. This special edition practical guide to living a greener and more environmentally friendly life 365 days of the year. It is packed with self-sufficiency tips on seasonal gardening, low-waste living, garden-to-table cooking, sewing and mending, bread-making and crochet and knitting.
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