It seems a long time ago now since lockdown number one. Every cloud has a silver lining, at that time there were grave concerns about the food supply chain (remember the loo paper shortage?) and incipient food shortages.
We decided to start a kitchen garden, and Tried & Supplied founder, Domini Hogg, headed up the project. If you are new to having a kitchen garden every new harvest is an occasion for wonder and excitement. Producing your own food is psychologically very rewarding; eating something that minutes before was still flourishing in the ground, the bracing freshness of it, is almost shocking; and the creativity required to cook with it, often as a glut, is constructively challenging.
The radishes have claimed a particular place in our hearts because they were our first-born, so to speak. Committed already to sustainability, but also with a vivid memory of the work involved in their nurturing, we determined to use the whole plant, not just the rudely red, gobstopper root; but also the leaves.
We made pesto from the radish leaves. This is how we did it.
Radish leaf pesto
Ingredients
- 80g/3 oz radish leaves (minus any tough stem)
- 30g/⅓ cup grated Parmesan or pecorino
- 30g/1 oz mixed pistachios and almonds (or other nuts)
- 1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and crushed with ½ tsp smoked salt
- 2 tbsps minimum olive oil
- Pinch of Urfa pepper
- Lemon zest from half a lemon – or half a slice of preserved lemon
Instructions
- Put everything except half the lemon zest into the blender, and blend until the whole lot is smooth. If it’s a bit thick, add a bit more oil.
- Put into a sterilised glass jar, and cover with a film of oil.
- Kept in the fridge with the film of oil this will keep for about a week. Or it also freezes well.
For more about pesto and lots of ideas for things to do with it, follow this link.
