The Knobbly Plate

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pesto

Wild Garlic Pesto

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It’s getting around to my favourite time of the year when there is so much free food to forage for. I love making recipes with wild garlic and walking in woods where there is a huge abundance of it at this time of year. The heady smell in the early morning is intoxicating. I took this shot on a walk through a wood near Butler Hill in Hampshire in the heart of the Southdowns National Park not long after dawn. I have yet to come across anywhere else where the wild garlic is so proliferous. I always like to leave plenty behind for others to forage and to not destroy the crop and so damage it for next years growth but there is absolutely no problem with that here as you can see by the image. It’s absolutely everywhere. What a find!

Wild garlic boasts a nutritional value rich in vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and copper. It also contains organosulphur compounds, phenolic compounds, steroidal glycosides, lectins, and a variety of essential amino acids, contributing to its garlic nutritional value.

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Wild Garlic Pesto
Author: 
Recipe type: Foraged
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 150g wild garlic leaves or young nettles, or a mixture (foraged – see tip)
  • 50g parmesan or vegetarian alternative, finely grated
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • ½ lemon, zested and a few squeezes of juice
  • 50g pine nuts, toasted
  • 150ml rapeseed oil
Instructions
  1. STEP 1
  2. Rinse and roughly chop the wild garlic leaves.
  3. STEP 2
  4. Blitz the wild garlic leaves, parmesan, garlic, lemon zest and pine nuts to a rough paste in a food processor. Season, and with the motor running slowly, add almost all the oil. Taste, season and add a few squeezes of lemon juice.
  5. STEP 3
  6. Transfer the pesto to a clean jar and top with the remaining oil. Will keep in the fridge for two weeks.

 

AFFORDABLE PESTO BUTTERBEAN SALAD

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First of all, many thanks to Deliciously Ella for the inspiration for this recipe. She has an amazing food blog. I liked the look of her pesto butter bean salad right from the start but I also knew that with my tight family budget it was probably just a little out of the reach of my pocket so I set about making a few changes that would mean I would get to try this dish.

I think one of the main elements of her dish, the pesto was probably just too expensive for me to make fresh. Pine nuts and Parmesan cheese are quite expensive items to purchase. I know the cheese goes a long way but when you only have so much to spend in one week then you have to stick to that. I decided therefore that the first change to her recipe should be that I buy a jar of pesto. Now you can buy very cheap pesto which has little extra virgin olive oil in it or spend a little bit more on a jar that has better ingredients in it. Either way it will still be cheaper than making your own fresh pesto, though we would all love to have the fresh variety.

My second change to her recipe was to buy a packet of dried butter beans rather than tins of butter beans. I know they are a faff to prepare having to soak them overnight and boil them for what seems like forever but you rally do get so much more for your money. One 500g packet of butter beans will produce at least 10 portions for the same price as a single tin of ready made beans. I also bought a snack pack of pomegranate seeds for half the price of a single whole fruit and found it was enough to make the same dish again with or to use in another dish.

Finally I still had some organic carrots left over from my veg box scheme that I use from Riverford Organics so I decided to roast them and add them to the dish for two reasons really. First I felt they would add a sweetness to the dish that would contrast well with the other Mediterranean flavours and also if I’m honest I’m a hungry eater so I wanted more to eat for my evening meal.

All in all I think with these simple changes I have not compromised on the flavours of the dish and I reckon I have cut the cost of making the dish by at least half.


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AFFORDABLE PESTO BUTTERBEAN SALAD
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: British
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 Persons
 
Ingredients
  • 1 Jar of Green Pesto
  • 100g Dried Butter Beans
  • ½ Bag of Rocket
  • 1 Lemon
  • Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 tsp Pomegranate Seeds
  • 2 tsp Pumpkin Seeds
  • 1 Lemon
  • 6 small Carrots
Instructions
  1. Soak the butter beans overnight and then cook according to packet instructions. Usually Boil for 10 mins and then Simmer for 30mins.
  2. Toss the butter beans in half the jar of pesto and set aside for 30 mins to let the beans take on the flavour of the pesto.
  3. Meanwhile quarter the carrots length ways and drizzle over some olive oil and roast in a hot oven until slightly charred.
  4. Mix up all the other salad ingredients and arrange on a plate.
  5. Top with the butter bean mixture and scatter the roasted carrots on top.
  6. Squeeze a lemon over the salad to dress and season with salt and pepper.

 

 

BEAN BULGUR SALAD WITH PESTO

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Here we go again. Great tasting, healthy food at an affordable price. Today it’s a vegan dish. I know all you meat lovers are groaning in horror now but trust me this tasts fresh and amazing with all it’s different nuggets of juiciness. The inspiration for this dish came from Holy Cow’s Blog. With a few simple changes to her wonderful recipe idea I have brought this into the realms of affordable vegetarian eating.


The main thing I changed was that instead of making the pesto with all those expensive ingredients I simply bought a jar of good quality pesto. Not only did this do me for the recipe but it also meant that there was enough for a spaghetti lunch the next day as well. The next change I made was I bought a tin of mango pieces in natural juice. The difference was nearly a £1 for that item alone and meant that I also had enough mango left over to put on my breakfast cereal the very next morning for a treat. lastly and I do this every time. 500g of dried borlotti beans will cost you the same as a tin of ready made ones. Form the tin you will get one portion. From the bag of dried beans you will get at least half a dozen. You just have to soak them overnight then boil them for 40 mins until soft and plump. No real hardship there.


So what did the whole dish cost. Here is a full breakdown of the ingredients and what they cost me

  • Borlotti beans 52p
  • Pesto 25p
  • Baby Spinach 25p
  • Tinned Mango 40p
  • Red Onion 18p
  • Feta 22p
  • Bulgur Wheat 66p

Now I know that those prices are per portion used but there is nothing on that list that will perish in a day or so. So you can utilise the leftovers in plenty of other dishes. I would suggest a nice wrap with lots of the salad and a spicy dressing. I used a wasabi and ginger dressing to make the wraps the next day. So adding all those ingredients up the salad will cost you £2.48 for 4 people. Thats’s an amazing 62p per plate with plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.


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BEAN BULGUR SALAD WITH PESTO
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 Persons
 
Ingredients
  • 480g cooked borlotti beans
  • 200g Bulgur Wheat
  • 1 Red Onion Diced Finely
  • Handful of Baby Spinach
  • ½ Can Mango Slices Diced
  • 2 Tomatoes Diced
  • ¼ Jar Pesto Sauce
  • 100g Crumbled Feta Cheese
Instructions
  1. Cook the bulgur wheat as per packet instructions.
  2. Mix all the other ingredients together.
  3. When the bulgar wheat has cooled add it to the mixture.
  4. Stir in the pesto sauce and serve.