In our winter garden, there really isn’t much growing at the moment. The broadbeans are struggling, the seed potatoes still aren’t in the ground, and there are just four lonely apples on our young trees.
The nasturtiums, however, have really taken off! Planted around the base of the fruit trees as ground cover, they attract bees and brighten our day with a lovely sea of green every time we go outside. We use their leaves and flowers in salads, they’re good greens for the chickens, and any excess becomes mulch for our fledgling vegetable beds.
Inspired by a recipe in Pam Corbin’s wonderful book Preserves, I gathered some nasturtium leaves and a sprig of mint from the garden…
…and blitzed them in the food processor with slivered almonds, a little grated pecorino cheese, half a clove of garlic and a few brined nasturtium pods. This was all loosened with grapeseed oil and the juice of half a lime, then seasoned with Maldon salt and a little ground black pepper.
The pesto was delicious – tangy and green, with a lovely peppery note from the nasturtiums. It was perfect on sourdough rye, and even better on Big Boy’s lunch of spinach and ricotta ravioli. You can imagine how happy I am about this, given that we have a whole bed of nasturtiums growing faster than we or the chickens can eat them!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
We used to have a big bed of “nasties” underneath our row of citrus trees. If I would’ve know they were eatable we would have kept them and not replaced them with wood chips.
Pesto looks good!
I am still reeling from the obviously true notion that you can even eat them!?!
We used to plant them to keep bugs away!
Wow! What a great idea! I always have nasturtiums in my garden and never am able to eat it all :)
I wonder if you have visited Jean over at “The Delightful Repast”? You two seem to share some similar passions.
http://delightfulrepast.com
The colour of that pesto is gorgeous. Sigh, I need to come home and taste some of your cooking again.
Beautiful pesto!
I may have to raid my niece’s garden!
I make pesto out of mint and sesame seeds and my son prefers it to the basil/pinenut version.
I love the peppery flavor of nasturtiums- so – Yeah- I’m going to “borrow” some from her garden/windowbox!
I love nasturtiums because they keep flowering until the frost finally gets them. I love their ground covering enthusiasm, their different colours and their general joie de vie !
I wouldn’t mind some of that pesto too. mmmm!
I too didn’t realise that the leaves were edible, although I have seen the flowers being used in salads before.
The pesto looks great, and what a good way to use the only things growing in winter!
next spring i’m definetely planting some. they were a bit pricey at the farmer’s market… the pesto looks great! i have ‘preserves’, i can’t wait to try some pickles, maybe in september.
I remember my Grandmother telling me that you could eat them when I was about 4 years old. Holding her hand while we went exploring her seemingly huge backyard, and wandering over to munch on nasturtium leaves… Thanks for the memory prompt Celia.
Good morning all! Thank you for your comments! :)
Mazza, that’s the primary reason we’ve planted them – for groundcover and weed control under the dwarf apple trees. They’re great plants, the bees love them, the chooks tolerate them (and they’re very good for them), and we eat them as well. They do, however, grow like weeds! :)
Steve, too funny! I had another friend email me and say, “surely they’re just weeds?” :)
Sasha, the other advantage of this over basil pesto is that it hasn’t oxidised. I’ve had a small jar in the fridge for several days now, and it’s still bright green!
Peter, thank you for the link, I’ll check it out!
Dan, you know you can’t come back soon enough for me… :)
Heidi, this version is fairly citrussy from the lime juice – we quite like it that way. I think the brined nasturtium pods are optional (they taste a bit like capers) – Pete was experimenting with some, so I threw a couple in. I’ve since made another batch without them.
Jo, you’ve nailed it – they really do have joie de vie! They’re so jolly to have in the backyard. The chickens are getting spoilt though – they now look at us as if to say, “nasturtiums again?” :)
C, I’ve actually not tried the flowers, although Pete loves them. I’m a bit funny about eating flowers in general…
Dana, I can’t believe these were expensive. They grow so fast! It’s worth planting though, as they wilt very quickly once they’ve been picked – perhaps that’s why they were exxy..
Brydie, lovely story! You must have had a sophisticated palate for a four year old! :)
So happy to discover through you the leaves are just as useful, we have a big patch in the street in our Tasmanian home and I pick the flowers for salads on my daily walk, now I will take a basket so I can pick the leaves and give this a try. thanks Celia
Roz, the only warning I’ve ever read about using nasturtium leaves is to make sure that they’re pesticide free. As we don’t spray anything in the backyard, there’s never any worry about that. This is a nice pesto, and it tastes distinctly of the nasturtium leaves! :)
Interesting recipe…I think I will be planting this flower next year so I can try it!
I never knew they were edible!! The pesto looks delicious.
What a good idea!
Are “brined nasturtium pods” what we in the States call “capers”? It never occurred to me the rest of the plant would be edible, too. Thanks for sharing this unusual pesto; I can’t wait to lay hands on some nasturtiums now!
Yum, great idea!
I have used the leaves and flowers in salads before, but this is a new, tasty sounding, twist.
I get so excited when I learn something new. Had no idea I could make a pesto out of nasti leaves; been using the flowers in all manner of dishes…, but you have given me wings to fly sista :)
What an interesting pesto recipe! Did you brine the pods yourself? I have a friend who was thinking of growing a bed of nasturtiams just for pickling, as apparently the brined pods can be used as a substitute for capers…? Very interesting :)
I’m dying to have some in my balcony garden. They look so pretty in desserts and salads. But a pesto, now that’s a clever idea indeed! :D
I love using the flowers in salads, and the leaves are lovely and peppery on brown bread and butter sandwiches. But I never thought of pesto! Thanks for a lovely inspiration!
Cindy, LJ, Deb, Amanda – thank you! It is indeed interesting – I’ve been eating it for lunch each day. very yummy indeed! :)
Yankee, they’re not true capers, but apparently they make a reasonable substitute. Pete’s been doing these, not sure where he’s at – I think you brine them in salted water and then store them in vinegar. Might try and write a post about them as well once we figure them out. The ones I popped into the pesto had just been salted.
Anna, hope you enjoy this! I was grateful for all your avocado suggestions, so I’m really happy to be able to offer you one in return! :)
Christine, the brined pods are really quite nice, although I’m not sure what they’ll be like until we get them into pickling solution. We do have quite a lot of nasturtiums though, so we will get a chance to experiment.
Lorraine, it is a clever idea, but not one I can take credit for – the recipe was out of Pam Corbin’s book. For anyone who’s interested in preserving, I can’t recommend this book enough!
Chef, I can imagine the nasturtiums would be lovely on bread and butter – a bit like cucumber sandwiches! :)
Oh, when you get the chance, please do write a post about the pickled nasturtium buds! I’ll be staying tuned…
Yankee, Pete’s harvested some more to make another batch and we’re taking photos! Will write it up soon.. :)
Celia, I’ve never heard of nasturtium pesto before! How cool! And what a lovely vivid green!
Honey, it’s still the same colour! I’m so happy it hasn’t turned brown like basil pesto always seems to…
My mom used to make juice of these lovely leaves for us when we were sick. I have never cooked them before… I thought they were just medicine. I am emailing my mom about this :)
Jane makes a version of pesto using wild garlic. This herb has a limited season here in England. It’s got a kick.
I’ve been planning on getting Nasturtiums ever since I had them in a salad last autumn but my garden, my small patch is overrun with mint! I will make space, clear some out and plant my nasturtiums. Love this pesto!!!!
Tes, thank you! I’d heard nasturtiums were good for you, but I didn’t know they had medicinal properties! What did your mum give them to you for?
Peter, I’ve read about the wild garlic! We make something similar with the tops of garlic as well – absolutely delicious, and not nearly as pungent as using garlic cloves.
Oz, thank you for the headsup about not using EVOO in pesto! This pesto was great because I used grapeseed oil – it didn’t have the slight bitterness which we sometimes get from EVOO! Do grow nasturtiums, but be warned, they grow like a jungle! :)
Celia, like others I had no idea I could even eat the leaves! We have loads growing around our lemon tree right now. Would caper berries give the same flavour as the brined nasturtium pods do you think, or only the capers themselves?
Sarah, I only put in a couple of the brined nasturtium pods because the Pam Corbin recipe suggested it – I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary. Having said that, I don’t know much about caperberries, but the brined pods taste like milder, less salty capers. Isn’t it fun to be able to turn something we all thought was a weed into food? I know the Greeks and Italians have been doing it for centuries, but it’s new for me… :)
When we had nasturtiums, I put the flowers in salads every day and used them to garnish all sorts of dishes. They have a lovely peppery taste. It never occurred to me, Celia, to make the leaves into a pesto! Mmmm. Must try it. Must get nasturtiums back in the garden!
Thanks Jean, they are so lovely in salads, aren’t they? :)
Fantastic! Nasturtiums are bountiful at our place too and I just love the idea of pesto from the leaves! I just did a post about the wonders of nasturtiums http://edibleurbangarden.blogspot.com/2010/10/nasturtiums.html. Just re-tweeted this recipe – and will include it in my next blog post. Absolutely love the capers recipe too. So glad I found your site!
Lanie, thanks so much for dropping by! We love our nasturtiums, as do our chooks! As well as being so edible, they keep the weeds out of the bed (although they really are growing like weeds at the moment.. :)). Will go check out your post now!