End of season nasturtium pesto

There's a big frost coming tonight, hopefully it will warm a little during the day tomorrow, but I fear its the last chance saloon for those yummy nasturtium leaves.

I finished work at 4.15pm today so I thought if I hurry home I may be able to harvest those leaves in the light.  Sadly it was dark by 4.45pm so it was a job to be done with my trusty head torch!

I managed to harvest 30g of leaves.  Pretty good for some last of the season pesto.

I didn't have all the usual ingredients for the pesto and threw it together with what I had in the kitchen but it made some mighty fine pesto.

Here's tonight's ingredients:

30g pesto leaves
Rapeseed oil/balsamic vinegar (left over from a used jar of slow roasted tomatoes)
2 garlic cloves
A generous scoop of pickled nasturtium seeds

I whizzed it together in the food processor and it's something like a vinaigrette pesto combination.  When I tasted it for seasoning it was perfect - no seasoning required.  Very peppery!

Stuffed Gem Squash

Do you remember the gem squash I grew in the garden last summer?  Gem Squash - the intrepid explorer  Yesterday, I thought it was time to do my home grown gem squash justice and what a delicious dish it made.  I just have to share it with you!

As my boyfriend is lactose intolerant I stuffed his gem squash with my home grown Slow Roasted Tomatoes, a finely chopped shallot, a mix of herbs ground with a pestle and mortar (oregano, chilli flakes, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, bay leaf, salt and pepper), poured some of the oil the slow roasted tomatoes were in and mixed the herbs with the stuffing by stirring around with a tea spoon and put the lid on.

I, on the other hand am not lactose intolerant and have a serious addiction to cheese - particularly nice, soft goats cheese!  So I started off stuffing my gem squash with a good scoop of goats cheese, slow roasted tomatoes, a drizzle of the oil the slow roasted tomatoes were stored in and the mix of herbs I used in Matt's gem squash.

I accompanied these with some lamb cutlets with a good spread of my home made (and home grown) Nasturtium Pesto

Then I roasted them all in the oven for an hour at 180 degrees centigrade.

Here's how they looked straight out of the oven after an hour.  When they came out the oven they smelt absolutely devine and tasted absolutely scrumptious. 

Recipes used in the making of this meal:
Nasturtium Pesto
Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Nasturtium Pesto

If you have been reading my blogs through the summer, you will know I am a big fan of eating nasturtiums.

They are really a wonderful thing to have growing in your kitchen garden and so versatile as flowers, leaves and seeds all have an intense peppery flavour.  In the summer months I was eating salads with nasturtium leaves and inspired to pickle the seeds Pickled Nasturtium Seeds - a supply of which I still have in my cupboard for adding to my winter salads and adding to sauces.

They grow so easily in the UK, so why strive to find enough basil leaves to make pesto when its easier to get your hands of 50g of nasturtium leaves?

In the recipe below, I've tried to use ingredients that are  available in the UK and as many of them from my garden to keep those food miles down.  Who needs pine nuts that are usually produced in China when a kitchen garden sunflower can provide us with enough seeds for a few jars?

It really compliments fish but is great on toast, with pasta, even flavouring potatoes and I'm sure with some imagination there are many more uses.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

50g Nasturtium Leaves
4 Garlic Gloves
Teaspoon Nasturtium Seeds or Pickled Nasturtium Seeds
50g Sunflower seeds (preferably home grown)
75g Hard local goat's cheese
50 ml Lemon/Lime juice
150 ml Rapeseed Oil
Salt to taste

Method

This is the easiest method I have ever described and there are two schools of thought for producing pesto.
1.  Chuck everything into a blender until everything's well mixed and looks like pesto
2.  With a good sized pestle and mortar pummel all your ingredients together.   

Which method do you prefer?

When the mixture has been placed into jars, I like to keep one in the fridge for regular use and the other jars in the freezer until I need them.

I used to buy artisan pesto from my local farmer's market, but now I know how easy it is to make my own there's no turning back to bought pesto again!

Pickled Nasturtium Seeds

Nasturtiums have really brightened up my summer salads this year with their peppery leaves.  I think I'm hooked!

If you haven't tried these flavourful leaves I highly recommend you try them.  Nasturtiums are in the same family as water cress.

And in my garden and my community gardens right now, the nasturtiums are growing thick and strong in great clumps with their cheerful yellow and red flowers in all their different varieties.  

This summer I found out you could eat the seeds too!   The seeds pack a really good punch too and can be used in the place of capers to spice up salads.  You can even pickle them to ensure that this summer season delight can brighten up autumn, winter and spring meals too.

The first step is to put the seeds into a jar with a tablespoon of salt and fill the jar with water. Leave for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, rinse the seeds in water
                                                                                                                                    

Dry the seeds on kitchen towel and pat dry.







Next step is to prepare the vinegar and flavourings.

Chop your favourite chilli.  Ideally the chilli should be fresh from your garden, greenhouse or windowsill.

And add them to a saucepan.

Then add 12 peppercorns (or a small handful).

And a tablespoon of salt.

Finally add 400 ml of white wine vinegar and simmer for 10 minutes.

While the vinegar is simmering, start to put the nasturtium seeds in a sterilised jar.  Put a single layer of seeds down.

Then a layer of finely chopped onion.  Then continue with an alternating layer of each seeds, onions, seeds, onions etc. 

When you have finished filling the jar, the vinegar mixture should have simmered long enough.  Allow to cool, then pour the mixture into the jar.













After a week you will be able to add your pickled nasturtium seeds to salads, pasta, meat dishes - anything which you would like to add a peppery flavour.

Ingredients

Nasturtium seeds       About 100g (or a good handful)
Salt                            Tablespoon
White Wine Vinegar  400ml
Peppercorns              12 (or a small handful)
Chilli                           1
Onion                         1

Ornamental Edible Garden

Squash Flower Salad

Its squash or cucurbit season in my garden. Well it really started at the beginning of July but its cranking up to full swing now which is amazing.  Every day something to eat from the garden - and now we have some sunshine maybe the tomatoes will finally turn yellow or red (depending on the varieties).

In the midst of my tomato impatience, I have my lovely squash plants to keep me company and to keep me fed.  Patty pans, large squash, gem squash and courgette.  The patty pans and courgettes give the best flowers and I like to add these to my salads, but today as I have a bit of a glut of flowers I decided to make a flower salad.

It is the most basic of salads as garden fresh salad doesn't need much preparation... but I divided the squash petals removing the sex part of the flower (which will go to my wormery) and placed them in a bowl, I added a handful of nasturtium leaves for some peppery flavour and some borage flowers. 

Borage is said to having a destressing effect so I like to add it to my salads, not that I am stressed with all the gardening but it might be thanks to the borage flowers!