I’ve been a fan of pesto for most of my adult life. Everything from a traditional basil pesto to some of the so called gourmet varieties like sun-dried tomato pesto at Whole Foods. Whether it’s on crusty gluten-free baguette from Everybody Eats, on some of Elana’s delicious Rosemary Crackers made from almond flour, or on zucchini rounds (shown below), I’ve never been disappointed and have often times considered this a meal unto itself.
This recipe for Nettles Pesto Elana’s Pantry is a new one to me. To be honest, I’ve never even heard of nettles and wouldn’t have the foggiest idea of how to use them. Of course, Elana does. After looking these up on Wikipedia, I was surprised to see the list of conditions that nettles were claimed to be beneficial to. I can see why Elana calls this a super food. While I don’t have immediate access to nettles myself, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for it and eventually trying this recipe. The fact that it’s pesto is good enough for me — the fact that it uses an ingredient like nettles intrigues me.
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“A giant stinging nettles bush climbs up the side of the little red barn in my backyard. Although we’ve been in this house for 9 years, it’s taken me half that time to pay any mind to it.
The bush literally caught up with the boys first; they complained that it “bit” them whenever a 3-way collision of plant, child and a baseball occurred. Back in those days, with 2 little ones, and always in a rush to clean something, cook something, or get somewhere, I would file this semi-monthly complaint along with all the others. Finally, I figured out what this mysterious plant was, and that while I needed to keep the boys away from it, it might be advantageous to get myself closer.
Moving to the present, I have entered into a culinary relationship with the nettles plant in my backyard. A wild edible, in my opinion, nettles is both superfood and superherb. Nettle leaf is thought to be anti-inflammatory, helpful with seasonal allergies and calming to the nervous system. Nettle root is regarded in herbalist circles as a natural aromatase inhibitor, meaning that it has been shown to prevent the “good” hormones from turning into “bad” hormones, that is, the type of bad hormones that cause cancer and other dis-ease.
This raw Nettles Pesto does taste very healthy, however, I couldn’t stop eating it and neither could my tasters. This naturally gluten free pesto has a slightly astringent taste, the strong flavor of basil and a nice lemony tang to it. If you decide to find yourself a nettles plant and make it, I hope you’ll stop back by to let me know your impression.”
