Making a Meal from Weeds: Nettle Pesto Recipe

In my family, we are always trying to find ways of preparing the most nutrient-dense food. Foods that are high in the vitamins and minerals my family needs, yet foods that can also be used to make tasty meals.

One nutrient that is particularly important for us is iron…and one of the best sources of iron is stinging nettle. That’s right—that weed that most people hate the sight of and can’t wait to spray with weed killer!

I’ve written before about the benefits of this herb, so I won’t go into it here, but it is packed full of vitamin A, antioxidants, vitamin C, calcium and iron. So, when we noticed that some had popped up in our garden, we were a little bit excited!

I waited until the plant had grown enough and had started going to seed, before I harvested it. I decided that I would make a nettle pesto—a plant-based, oil-free pesto, just like how I would with basil, but using nettle instead.

The first step, after harvesting the nettle, was to cut the leaves from the stems. This is the most time-consuming part of the process, as I used kitchen scissors. If anyone has one of those nifty, handy-dandy gadgets that allow you to strip away the leaves from herbs in one swipe, this would probably save a lot of time.

I then placed all the leaves in one of the baskets of my steamer, and turned it on for a few minutes—just enough time for the leaves to wilt a little. While I love to eat as much raw food as possible, I am a little reluctant to do so with nettle without first steaming it. This is because nettle loses its stinging property when it is heated. It may not sting once it is blended up, but I haven’t been game to try it!

After the nettle has been steamed, it reduces in volume quite significantly.

I placed the nettle in a bowl, to which I added the following:

1 garlic clove
3 tbs lemon juice
1 can cannellini beans
Half an avocado
A handful of cashews
½ tsp salt

On other occasions when I have made this dish, I have also included nutritional yeast. I don’t normally add the avocado either, but with the current ridiculously low prices, there was no reason not to!

I blended together all the ingredients using a stick blended, but any kind of blender would work, really.

The result was a delicious and very healthy pesto that can be used as a sauce for pasta, as a dip, or just eaten straight out of the bowl, which is how my kids and I ate it!

So, instead of throwing stinging nettle into the weed pile next time it pops up in your yard, think about what kind of dish you can make with it!

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