May | 2017 | Make, Mend, Grow.

One of my favorite signs of spring is stinging nettle! It’s easily foraged and from an herbal remedy standpoint, this super food is full of nutrients and minerals like fiber, calcium and iron. They may also help with allergies (of course, if interested in using nettles for herbal use, please check with your doctor first!). From a culinary perspective, it’s delicious and adds an amazing earthy flavor to soups, stews, breads, or my favorite: in place of basil for pesto. If you can get past the sting, you’ll have one of the best ingredients that spring has to offer!

Nettle Pesto
Makes 5 cups

Ingredients:
1.25 lbs nettle or 3 cups blanched, liquid squeezed out
1/2 lb pecans, roasted (you can substitute your favorite nut here as well, keeping the same weight.
1 head garlic, or 10 large cloves peeled
1 large lemon, squeezed
1/2 cup olive oil
4 ounces parmesan, grated
1/8 tspn pepper, or more to taste
1 pinch of salt, or more to taste (add after you blend in your parmesan, which tends to be salty)
1 pinch red pepper flake (optional)

Equipment needed:
Stock pot, or other deep pot
Cookie sheet
Food processor
Cheese grater
Tongs
Gloves

Process:

Start by getting your water going-fill a deep pot 3/4 of the way up with water and set on the stove on high. You’ll use this to blanch your nettles which removes the sting.
While that is heating up, you’ll start roasting your pecans. Lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet, place in the cool oven and turn it on to 300 degrees. Cook the pecans for 10-15 minutes, or until they are lightly toasted. As ovens vary, I would check them starting at 5 mins, and every 5 mins after until you can smell them and they are just starting to brown. Keep in mind they will continue to cook a little as they cool on the pan. Take them out and let them cool while you’re blanching your nettles.
Prep your nettles by removing the leaves from the stems. This is where the gloves come in as the sting can be painful and can last some time. If some of the newer stems are still attached, that is fine; the goal is to have as much of the lower, woody materials removed. You can also blanch everything, stems and all, and then remove the leaves after, which is what I did. The blanching will take longer, but it will also reduce your sting risk!
Using your tongs, place large bunches of nettle into the boiling water. Note: You want enough that this part doesn’t take forever, but not so much that the nettles clump up-you want the nettles to move around so that they blanch quickly.
Let the nettles blanch for no more than 1 minute and remove to a colander to drain.
Continue blanching and scooping until you’ve gone through all of your nettles. **Tip: You can save this infusion to drink!**
Lay your blanched nettles on a clean, dry towel or cheesecloth and roll the cloth up, squeezing as much of the moisture out as you can. Too much liquid can ruin the end pesto!
NOTE: If you have a smaller food processor, you’ll want to do this in two batches! Grab your food processor and add in your fully cooled pecans, and pulse until broken down into smaller pieces. You’ll be adding in other ingredients and don’t want to make butter, so don’t go crazy here!
Add your cheese, pepper, red pepper (if using) and mix until it looks well distributed-usually a few good pulses
Add your nettles and pulse to break those bad boys down.
Add your lemon juice and pulse a few more times.
This is where the magic happens! Grab your olive oil and turn your processor on-slowly pouring the oil in. If you prefer a drier, thicker pesto, stick with the amount of oil listed. If you prefer a smoother, creamier pesto, add more oil slowly until you reach the desired consistency. There’s no wrong way here and you’ve made it through the hardest part!

You’re probably thinking…why does she prefer a drier pesto? I add this stuff to everything-soups, sauces, eggs; you name it. If I want a formal pesto, I can add more oil to it later. I can’t take the oil out after the fact!

So there you have it, an easy pesto with an element of danger, or at least a good sting. What will you add your pesto to?

~Yours in earthy goodness~
Raina

Hello dear reader! We’re finally in the home stretch here in Seattle; finally getting out of the cold and into the spring. This winter has been rough, with quite a few snow days, and fewer than 15 days of sunshine in 6+ months, and we’re now getting a good steady drizzle of rain. I don’t know about you, but I am ready for longer (and sunnier!) days spent out in the garden, out on the trails, and generally not cooped up inside! Before the spring hits, I wanted to share all we did over the winter. I really need to be better about posting quick updates, in addition to the food posts!

My hope for the winter was to continue building traditions with Izzy, creating magical memories for her to relish for years. I look at all of the pictures and somehow she has gone from my tiny baby into my little girl. She grew so much over the winter, and while my heart breaks to know she’s no longer a tiny baby, I am so excited for all of our adventures we’re having and all that we’ll be able to do as she gets bigger. I am trying to live in the moment with her and enjoy everything as it comes.

This winter we explored, played in the snow, and traveled to Eastern Washington as we needed to get away and have a break during all of the holiday craziness. We rented the sweetest dog friendly Air BnB in Kittitas, right above the Thrall & Dodge Winery. For three days, we cooked meals in the retro 1940’s kitchen, snuggled in the massive bed, played in the snow and explored the tiny town and surrounding areas. We stumbled upon Whipsaw Brewing in Ellensburg, and I explored used book stores adding to my Serendipity book collection for Izzy. Happy and rested, we would return home for more holiday adventures.

One of the biggest highlights of the holiday season was the Mount Rainier Railroad’s Polar Express train ride, a two-hour adventure filled with elves, singing, and Santa! Izzy danced, sang “Jingle Bells” at the top of her lungs and stared in wonderment at Santa as he gave her a bell. The parents were entertained by amazing views of the Mt Rainier area and various rivers and their children totally embracing the spirit of the holiday. We’ll definitely take that trip again, making it an ongoing family tradition.

To really bring Christmas home and get us in the spirit, we returned to Pfaff’s Tree Farm to visit Santa again for some one on one time, and to cut down our own Christmas tree. We hunted for an hour for the perfect tree, finally settling on one that would (yet again) be way too tall for the highest part of my ceiling, despite chopping more than a few feet off of the bottom. Almost every year I misjudge how high my ceiling actually is, and every year I still make that darn thing fit. Izzy found her first live turkey and gobbled along happily with it.

Lastly, Izzy saw the Nutcracker for the first time. She loved the ballerinas, but was disappointed in the lack of mermaids (no idea why she thought there’d be mermaids), which she loudly proclaimed often to the annoyance of the little girl in front of her who would continue to turn around and scowl at us. Izzy and her daddy would eventually make faces right back at the grumpy girl who finally stopped her leering, confused why an adult made faces back at her.

Our magical winter was spent making memories with these amazing events and finding down time where we danced in snow flurries with our critters (true story: bunnies hate snow) and chased sun beams for as long as they stayed around. We snuggled on the couch and read books together, and celebrated each moment with each other trying to keep the magic of her childhood alive and strong for yet one more year and I couldn’t imagine a better way to have spent the winter.