With Farmyard our goal is to start growing our own fruit, herbs, flowers and veg and we hope that in the next year we’ll be able to set up our own food & drinks unit in Eatyard, selling only the good ol produce we have harvested ourselves. With that we thought we’d share some of our favourite Farmyard recipes we’ve used over the past year.

🍃How to make Nettle Pesto🍃

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 heaping tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons grated cheese (any hard cheese will do)
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup blanched, chopped nettles
• Salt
• Olive oil (use the good stuff)

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Pesto is best made with a mortar and pestle, thus the name, which means “pound.” You can make this in a food processor, but it will not be the same. First add the toasted pine nuts and crush lightly — as they are roundish, they will jump out of your mortar if you get too vigorous. If you are using a processor, pulse a couple times.
• Add the garlic to the mortar, then pound it all enough so that the pieces don’t fly around. Add the salt, cheese and the nettles and commence pounding. Mash everything together, stirring with the pestle and mashing well so it is all fairly uniform. With a food processor, run the machine so everything combines, but isn’t a smooth paste. You want it with some texture.
• Start adding olive oil. How much? Depends on how you are using your pesto. If you are making a spread, maybe 2 tablespoons. If a pasta sauce, double that or more. Either way, you add 1 tablespoon at a time, pounding and stirring to incorporate it. If you are using the processor, drizzle it in a little at a time. Serve as a spread on bread, as an additive to a minestrone, as a pasta sauce or as a dollop on fish or poultry.

It’s that bloody simple! We are by no means experts at this ourselves, it’s all trial and error. But it’s a lot of fun and hopefully we can inspire some of you to join the buzz in 2022.

Sophie & The Crew