Hey P[r]esto!

I have tried and tried to be a gardener – and failed miserably down the years. Each summer I seem to buy a packet or two of vegetable seeds, and usually have very little success [THIS was the pathetic crop from 2009’s efforts]  But arriving in Ferndown and finding a raised bed just beside the patio, I thought I really should make one more effort. So I planted out all the remaining seeds which had been accumulating in a tin in the garage in Kirby for many years. I labelled each row very neatly [but got the carrot and beetroot rows mixed up – not a good start]

Thus far I have managed some salad leaves. And just FIVE radishes! I hope that on my return from holiday there may be more stuff to crop. But the radishes have produced loads of leaves.

Ever frugal, I have made a couple of batches of radish leaf pesto. It isn’t a particularly original idea – here is a recipe from the internet. Unlike the usual recipes, I changed mine to suit.

I had some walnuts which needed using up [the end of an inexpensive bag from Lidl] so they replaced the pine nuts. The radish leaves stood in for the basil – and as I cannot digest cheese, I missed out the Parmesan [but stirred grated cheddar into Bob’s portion] Mine was not too bitter- I notice some US recipes add sugar. Other recipes also add lemon juice to keep the colour green and fresh- I prefer to make small quantities and use it promptly. I stirred mine in to some freshly drained penne along with a tbsp of crème fraiche. It was creamy and delicious.

My friend Peter says there is an awful lot about food on this blog. I checked the categories stats – and he is absolutely right- food comes second to family, just beating crafts, friends and faith. I shall have to work on that!

Does anyone else have any recipes for pesto-made-without-basil ? I do know that some people use almonds instead of pine-nuts.