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Walnut & Rosemary Pesto

Published on March 5, 2013 • Last updated July 18, 2014 by Elizabeth
walnut-rosemary-pesto

This month for Jac from Tinned Tomatoes‘ Pasta Please food bloggers challenge, hosted by Jen from Blue Kitchen bakes, we are tasked with the challenge of making our own pesto. I hadn’t planned on making pesto this month so when I did my big food shop in town a few days ago I hadn’t picked up any of the key ingredients. Namely, there is no fresh basil or pine nuts to be found in my kitchen this month! Initially I thought I’d have to opt out of this month’s challenge, but I went browsing for recipe ideas in my cookbook collection anyway, out of curiosity.

I’d been lucky enough to win The Cook’s Herb Garden book by Jeff Cox and Marie-Pierre Moine (2010) in Lavender & Lovage’s Herbs on Saturday challenge last year and in it there is a single page on pesto. On that page it says, “You can make pestos with other fresh herbs, such as parsley and coriander, and you can replace the pine nuts with fresh skinned walnuts.” Can you!?, thought I. HHrrrm… and that got me thinking. On my last supermarket trip, which was very late at night after an incident involving me ballroom dancing by myself on top of a parked car (true story and perfectly legal!) I managed to pick up some fresh herbs at a very reduced price. 13 p for some gorgeously fragrant fresh rosemary and 13 p for some fresh parsley! I had also picked up some walnuts, so I set to recipe developing.

I had a quick browse of the Internet but I didn’t fancy anything I saw there, so I thought I would tweak my last homemade pesto creation (seaweed pesto) with the ingredients I had on hand. The pesto was an absolute success. I admit to having apprehensions as I was making it since it was using completely different ingredients than a traditional pesto, but when I took the first tip of the spoon taste test – wow! I couldn’t wait for dinner!

baked-wild-bear-garlic-ravioli

I made some fresh pasta to accompany the pesto for the children and for the grown-ups I tried a new recipe I’d been eyeing up for years, the fantastically named Baked Wild Bear’s Garlic Ravioli, from A. Vogel’s Naturally Fresh & Delicious cookery book (2009). The ravioli is filled with a mixture of spinach, ricotta, shallot, grated carrot, Parmesan cheese and a whopping 50 grams of sliced fresh garlic. No bears were involved. However, despite the ingredients list it was tasteless. It was pretty but fairly bland and I won’t be making it again. I really didn’t like the texture of the baked pasta either – why not just save the effort of making homemade pasta and just make pastry instead? Ach well, I can now cross that recipe off my to-do list.

The pesto, on the other hand, I will definitely be making again. It’s a much cheaper option than traditional basil and pine nut pesto too.

walnut-rosemary-pesto-2
Walnut & Rosemary Pesto
by Elizabeth
Rich in flavour, this walnut and rosemary pesto is perfect with fresh pasta.
Ingredients
  • 55 grams walnuts, shelled
  • 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped finely
  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped finely
  • 130 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 60 grams Grana Padano cheese, finely grated
  • zest of 1/2 lemon
  • pinch of sea salt
Instructions
1. Place walnuts, rosemary, parsley and olive oil in a small food processor bowl.
2. Blitz until the walnuts are finely chopped.
3. Gently stir in the cheese, lemon zest and sea salt.
4. Use immediately or keep refrigerated for up to one week.
Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: Total time: 5 mins Yield: Serves 4-6

Category: Recipe

About Elizabeth

Solivagant. Foodie. Calls Shetland home.

Previous Post:Angry Birds Birthday Cake
Next Post:Sugar Rose Lemon Cake

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs

    June 8, 2015 at 8:58 pm

    Thanks for sharing this! I can’t wait to share it with my readers too. I often see basil replaced with leafy greens like spinach and kale but not other herbs. Rosemary is a great choice 🙂

    Reply
  2. Elizabeth@Thebackyardlemontree

    July 18, 2013 at 9:42 am

    Looks like a great winter pesto, I like making rocket and nut pesto in winter. I find the ABC nut mix – ALmonds, Brazil nuts and cashews works really well for most pestos and is a bit less expensive than the pinenuts as well.

    Reply
  3. Jen Price

    March 20, 2013 at 6:26 pm

    This looks wonderful and so good to see someone getting creative with their ingredients

    Reply
  4. Karen S Booth

    March 15, 2013 at 4:15 pm

    PERFECT herbs on Saturday recipe and it looks like a better pesto than the usual basil one! Karen

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      March 16, 2013 at 5:05 pm

      Oh I’m so glad you like it 🙂 I was really impressed at the wonderful flavour of it. I’ll certainly be making it again.

      Reply
  5. Mich Piece of Cake

    March 6, 2013 at 8:36 am

    This looks really good, realised you’re not using basil but rosemary… would love to give this a try.

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      March 8, 2013 at 7:35 pm

      It was lovely and a lot nicer than I was expecting it to be, to be honest!

      Reply
  6. Jacqueline Meldrum

    March 5, 2013 at 10:18 pm

    Wow, the homemade pasta and the pesto both look amazing!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      March 8, 2013 at 7:34 pm

      Thank you 🙂 The pesto was nice – the pasta, not so fine!

      Reply

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Cooking up a storm at the edge of the world

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Welcome to Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary, Scotland’s most northerly award-winning food blog.

I’m based in the wild and remote Shetland Islands, where I’ve been sharing my adventure-fuelling recipes since 2011.

As seen on Shetland: Scotland’s Wondrous Isles on Channel 5.

“Never underestimate the power of your own story. Life may have taken unexpected turns, but it’s never too late to weave new threads of adventure into your tapestry. Keep spinning those yarns, my friend.

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