Salsa di noci (walnut sauce for pasta)

We are hooked on the great Italian supermarket in Sydhavn. S snuck a pot of salsa di noci into our shopping basket last time we were there, despite my protestations at buying anything walnut-based, considering our epic quantities. But it turned out to be delicious, and a little different from any walnut-based pesto I'd tried before. I googled for a recipe, and it seemed pretty simple. So I tried this one. And it was great! So there is an argument for buying walnutty things after all - new ideas for our supply!

35 g white bread, crusts removed

100 ml milk

150 g walnuts, toasted

10 g parmesan, grated 

1/2 garlic clove 

40 ml olive oil 

lemon juice, to taste 

salt, to taste 

pepper 

extra chopped walnuts (optional)

chopped parsley (optional)

 

Put the bread into the milk and leave to soak for a few min.

 

Put the soaked bread in a blender along with the walnuts, parmesan, garlic and oil. Blend to a smooth paste, slowly adding the leftover milk back in to reach the desired consistency

Season the sauce with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

Often served with gnocchi or long, flat pasta shapes such as tagliatelle (we ate it with penne and it was still good). Garnish with extra toasted walnuts and chopped parsley if you like (we didn't have any so didn't, and it was still good). Had some roasted aubergine pieces on the side and that was nice mixed in, as an option. Oh and I think a bit of ricotta salata as an option too.

Wild garlic and edamame pesto

We secretly replanted some wild garlic into the wilder parts of our garden last year. As usual with suchlike, I didn't touch it for a year so it would have a chance to settle in. So, first harvest: wild garlic pesto; full of green stuff; garlickiness slightly dispersed by edamame content.

1/2 cup edamame, defrosted
c. 15 leaves wild garlic
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
3-4 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend. Taste for seasoning and acid (add a little more salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil if it needs it). Store and eat as normal pesto.

Walnut pesto (and walnut-cauliflower pasta salad)

Our heap of walnuts remains, as yet undwindling. Seb is mocking me for spending all my spare moments cracking nuts with my Granddads favourite nutcracker from 1981. But the proceeds are so nice. Some went into cookies for people waiting to be deported in Jutland at J's bday get together. For a totally different use, I thought of walnut pesto, I think inspired by this. I adapted that recipe only in as much as I substituted stuff we had in the house.

1 cup shelled walnuts
1 small garlic clove
1/4 cup grated parmesan
3 tsp mixed dried thyme, chilli and salt
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp red pesto (subbed for 2 tbsp sundried tomatoes - used a bit less oil and cheese accordingly)

Toast the walnuts and let cool. Put in a blender with the garlic and pulse until roughly chopped. Transfer to a bowl and mix in grated cheese, herbs and salt, vinegar, oil and pesto. Mix together, taste for seasoning and vinegar, and eat on everything.

Some became an awesome pasta salad, with roasted cauliflower and tomatoes, white beans, parsley and diced mozzarella (or feta) - this is recommended. But it works with everything - a spoonful on top of some pasta e ceci, for example...

Kale and walnut pesto

leaves of 4-5 kale leaves, bigger veins / ribs removed
small clove garlic, peeled
handful of walnuts
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt

Put the kale leaves in a blender cup and add the other ingredients. Blend until all the big pieces are gone.


This was interesting. S didn't like it - said it was too bitter. I disagreed. Obviously it isn't basil pesto but it is pretty good nonetheless - that distinctive raw kale flavour goes well with walnuts. It stayed a very deep, vibrant green even after storing in the fridge for a couple of days - the colour doesn't seem to get oxidised and turn brown, unlike with basil.

Pistachio pesto rice salad

We had a lot of basil as part of our double-farmshare fest, so pesto seemed like an obvious choice. I really like pistachios right now, so I wanted to try making pesto with pistachios, and then realised how long it had been since I last ate pesto rice salad (a Delia classic, and one of my stepmother's signature recipes that I wrote down when I left home at 17), even though I love it. So here we are.

For the pesto:
~2 large bunches of basil
1 small clove garlic, peeled
2-3 tbsp shelled, unsalted pistachios
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
~1/2 tsp salt

Additional ingredients for the salad:
risotto (Arborio) rice, measured to 8 fl oz / 225 ml in a glass measuring jug
16 fl oz / 450 ml boiling veg stock
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
whole basil leaves
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1-2 tbsp shelled, unsalted pistachios
salt+pepper

First, make the pesto. Wash the basil leaves and put them in a blender cup. Add the garlic, pistachios, olive oil and salt. Blend until pretty much smooth. Taste to check salt and oil, add more if needed.

To make the salad, add ~2 tbsp pesto to the rice in a measuring jug and mix well. Transfer to a lidded frying pan. Measure the stock in the same jug, swirling around to wash in any pesto that is sticking to it, then add the stock to the frying pan. Add ~1/2 tsp salt, then stir and bring to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat, and simmer for exactly 20 min. When ready, transfer the rice to a serving bowl. Add 4-6 more tbsp of pesto, the lemon juice and olive oil and mix well. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with torn basil leaves, chopped spring onions, and pistachios, and serve (if serving cold, do this step immediately before serving). Equally good warm or cold, or as leftovers in the following days.


I still love this salad. I find it hard to stop eating it. I also thought this was a really good pesto - the basil was fresh and good, which was helpful, but I also think the pistachios work very well. Possible I even like this vegan version more than the original - at least as much.

Radish green, garlic scape and pistachio pesto

It recently dawned on me that radish greens are perfectly usable. I had always focussed on the bright pink orbs below and removed and composted the greens, but I recently tried eating them and found them quite good: they have a subtle, pleasant taste. Radish greens are best cooked (or pulverised, as here) as they are slightly hairy: use as you would nettles (or spinach).

Now is the season for garlic scapes. As they have a relatively subtle garlic taste I thought they might go well in a pesto, so I used radish greens for bulk and background, with garlic scapes for punchy flavour and pistachios for texture and additional taste.

2 cups packed radish greens
~5 garlic scapes, chopped into ~ 1 inch chunks*
1/4 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios (roasted or raw)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp lemon juice

Wash the radish greens and pack into a blender cup. Add the garlic scapes, pistachios, olive oil, salt and lemon juice. Use a wand blender to blend until smooth and well combined. It should be garlicky, but not overwhelmingly so.

I used this pesto as a base layer on top of pizza (with pumpkin seeds, thinly sliced courgette, black olives, pumpkin seeds, sauteed beet greens, dry tofu and sweetcorn kernels on top) made from frozen balls of dough (defrosted for ~ 2 hours) and the method from this recipe.


Made a good pesto: quite garlicky but that was the whole idea. Worked really well on pizza as baking toned down the taste intensity a little.

*Could substitute a similar quantity of wild garlic. If using regular garlic use much less: it has a far stronger garlicky taste.

Rocket and walnut pesto

Had to bring in most of the plants in pots from the balcony as our landlords suddenly proclaimed they were going to repaint the balconies (or something).  Nothing has yet happened on that front (another story), but the weather's getting cooler (though not right now), and I guess it's time to break the pots down in preparation for Winter soon anyway...  One of the things needing used is rocket.  Have been realising that you can make pesto out of just about anything - there are so many different kinds of leaves and veggies, nuts and seeds...

I also made the green sauce from here, as I had come by some green chillies and green tomatoes, and had some lettuce leaves in my pots waiting to be eaten.

1 cup rocket leaves, roughly chopped
small clove garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup walnut pieces
1/4 cup shelled edamame, defrosted
1 tsp nutritional yeast
salt and pepper
water to make a good consistency

Put all ingredients in the cup of a wand blender and blend til smooth.  Eat as a dip with bread or crudites, or as a pesto with pasta.

Carrot dips

I have been making lots of things with carrots - they seem like a kind of bridge between summery veggies and autumnal ones - am almost onto squash, but not quite.  Incorporating the kind of warm spices I used in the chickpea-carrot stew thing I made last week.  I made two different pesto-y dip things.

Spiced carrot and chickpea dip

1 cup cooked, defrosted chickpeas
1 cup carrots (approx 2 large carrots, peeled, chopped into big chunks and steamed for approx 15 min until tender)
1 tsp ras el hanout
1 tsp lemon juice
chickpea sized piece of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp honey
salt and pepper
water to make a good consistency

Put all ingredients into wand blender cup and blend until smooth.  Taste to check seasoning.


Spiced carrot and almond pesto

1 cup carrots (approx 2 large carrots, peeled, chopped into big chunks and steamed for approx 15 min until tender)
1/4 cup toasted, flaked almonds
1 x 1 x 2 in piece firm tofu, cut into chunks
1 tsp lemon juice
splash of red wine vinegar
chickpea sized piece of garlic
2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp cumin seed
3/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
water to make a good consistency

Toast the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant and then grind in spice grinder.  Put all ingredients into wand blender cup and blend until smooth.  Taste to check seasoning.


Both were good.  I think I liked the almond one best, but yes, other one good too.  Hard to go wrong with this kind of thing really.  S cooked some spaghetti right after I made them and I realised that the almond one especially might actually work as a pesto - it did - was very tasty and autumnal and orange and interesting.

Spaghetti squash / another version of pesto / wholemeal+corn rolls

Got excited about a spaghetti squash at the Haymarket, as I don't think I've ever had one before.  Eventually got around to cooking it.  It is funny stuff indeed.

1 spaghetti squash

20-30 cherry tomatoes
1 medium, sweet onion, finely sliced
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tbsp basil leaves, roughly torn or chopped
olive oil, salt+pepper, balsamic vinegar

for the pesto:
handful basil leaves, washed
handful shelled edamame, defrosted
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 small clove garlic
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
salt+pepper

Heat oven to 400F.  Cut squash in half lengthways (past the stem).  Deseed and set seeds aside.  Place cut side down in a large baking tin.  Add ~1in water to the tin.  Put in the oven for 30-40 min until a knife goes in easily / the flesh is tender.  Meanwhile you can spread the seeds on a large baking tray and toast them for ~5min as a pre-snack.  Around the same time as the squash, bung in another baking tin containing the tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, and olive oil / salt and pepper to taste.  Take the squash and tomato mix out of the oven when ready.  Add a little balsamic vinegar to the tomatoes and mix in.  Allow squash to cool a little, then scrape out the flesh into a large bowl (don't burn your fingers).  Season and add a little olive oil to the squash and mix up / separate the strands with a fork.  Serve with the tomato mix and pesto (to make the pesto, whizz all the ingredients in the blender, adding water and/or olive oil to get a good consistency).

It really looks like spaghetti!  Totally bizarre how it separates out into perfect strands.  Doesn't taste of much, but does have a pleasant, slightly squashy taste that goes well with the pesto and / or tomato mix.  This pesto iteration is getting close to the best yet.


Spelt / wholemeal and corn rolls

We're planning on going to one of the harbor islands tomorrow to check out an art encampment.  Thought it might be nice to take some bread with us for snacks.  This Guardian recipe looked quicker than the other breads I've done, and was on my list of ones I fancied...


75g cornmeal or polenta
200ml boiling water
300ml cold water
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp yeast
300g spelt (or wholemeal) flour / used wholemeal
200g strong white flour
1 tsp salt
Oil and flour, to finish

Put the cornmeal in a bowl, pour in the boiling water and stir. Leave for 15 minutes, then whisk in the cold water, honey and yeast. Add the spelt, white flour and salt, mix to a soft dough and leave for 10 minutes.
Knead for 10 seconds. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave for 20 minutes, until it has risen slightly.
Wipe the worktop clean and dry it with a tea towel, then dust with flour. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces and shape into rounds. Place these in two rows of four, and just touching, on a baking tray lined with nonstick paper. Flour the tops, cover with a cloth and leave for about 45 minutes, until risen by half.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 240C (220C fan-assisted)/465F/gas mark 9. Lightly flour the tops of the dough rounds again and bake for 20-25 minutes, until just coloured on top. Leave to cool, and tear apart to serve.

These look super, but haven't taste-tested them yet...  Now I have.  They're really hearty and wholemeal - excellent with salad.  Quite heavy, but not awfully so.

Fried courgette flowers / edamame pesto

Fried courgette flowers

S stopped by the farmers market on Thurs evening and bought some courgette flowers.  Seemed like the thing to do with them was batter and fry.  So I googled that.

8 fresh courgette flowers, wiped clean if need (but not wet)

50g plain flour
2 tbsp cornflour
~100ml ice cold water

veg oil for frying (plus a little olive oil for taste)

salt

Put the flours in a bowl over a bowl of iced water and mix together.  Add the iced water and mix to a pouring cream consistency (so that the stuff coats your finger).

Heat ~1cm oil in a small saucepan til it smokes.  Coat a courgette flower in batter and then put into hot oil.  Should go golden in a couple of minutes.  Flip if necessary.  Cook then all like this, cutting in half if large, and fishing out with a slotted spoon and moving to kitchen roll on a plate when done.  Sprinkle with sea salt and eat straight away.

They were very good.  The batter was not super crispy, especially the first ones - need to make sure it is not too thick and the oil is good and hot.


Edamame pesto

Saw this on ppk.  Went to Haymarket and bought a bunch of basil, thought a variant on pesto might be an idea.

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup packed basil leaves
Handful (1/4 cup or so) fresh cilantro
14 oz package shelled edamame, thawed
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Blend all ingredients with a wand blender. Add a little more vegetable broth if it seems too stiff. Eat with spaghetti or bread or anything really.



It was good...  A cross between pesto and hummus.  Wonderfully green, and that didn't fade with keeping in the fridge like regular pesto.  S liked it because it didn't have so much oil in it.  I think it might be missing a bit of nuttiness - next experiment will be a mixture of basil, edamame, sunflower seeds and olive oil...