Morag Gamble's super pesto recipe using simple garden greens

Morag Gamble's Super Simple Pesto recipe is incredibly delicious. It's healthy too and so easy to make using whatever greens you can forage from in your garden, weeds too - and the kids love it!.

Pesto is usually associated with basil, and yes I agree, it's a wonderful flavour, but you can also make pesto from all kinds of garden greens or better still, a wondrous blend.

Today in my foraging, I harvested three types of basil, parsley, rocket, welsh onions, society garlic, cranberry hibiscus and sorrel. I blended these together with some toasted ground sunflower seeds, the juice of a lime and some olive oil and created an amazingly simple, but superbly flavoured pesto that can be used for all kinds of things, such as pasta, bruschetta, soup , salad, dip ...

Often when the basil is on, it's on! Making pesto is a great way to appreciate this abundance. I typically make up a big batch, then freeze some in an ice cube tray. It's a great way to extend the basil harvest.

Also, because you can include any number of leafy greens, it is actually a great way to get your kids to eat an enormous dose of very nourishing greens.

MY GARDEN PESTO RECIPE

Here's what I use for a really lovely texture of smooth pesto. As you can see, it's more of a ratio I am suggesting here rather than exact ingredients. There is huge flexibility in the types of greens. It varies soo widely between seasons and regions!

Ingredients

- 2 cups leaves from your garden (basil or mixed greens - garlic chives, welsh onion, rocket, parlsey, mizuna, kale, spinach, silverbeet, pumpkin, sorrel, cranberry hibiscus, Brazilian spinach, nasturtium, chickweed ...)

- 1 lime/lemon, juiced

- 1/4 cup raw or toasted ground seeds/nuts (I use a coffee grinder)

- 1/2 cup olive oil

Optional:
- 1/3 cup parmesan

NB: The leaves and flowers of the garlic chives replace the garlic in typical pesto recipes. It tastes great!

Method

Basically I just toss all the ingredients into a food processor and buzz until smooth, then spatula it all into a mason jar. It's important to tap it down to ensure there are no air bubbles in the mix (will oxidise/go brown where there are bubbles) and I top it off with a little oil to keep it fresh. I store this in the fridge for about a week or two, but it doesn't usually last that long though. If you want to store it longer, it's a good idea to freeze it.

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