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Stinging Nettle Pesto

A pesto made from nettles, nuts, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan, lemon juice, and black pepper.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Garlic and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,665 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Stinging Nettle Pesto

16 ounces
Time1 minute

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Dry sauté or roast nuts until slightly browned.

  2. Place nettles in boiling water for 1 minute, then transfer them to an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.

  3. Drain nettles.

Make the pesto

  1. Blend all ingredients until smooth.

  2. Alternatively, smash with mortar and pestle for a coarser consistency.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

468Calories
15 gProtein
43 gFat
11 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pine Nut1 oz (28g)191
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Hazelnutnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  2. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,090 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Nettles
Provide the main green flavour and bulk of the pesto.
Extra virgin olive oil
Carries the flavours and gives the pesto a smooth, loose texture.
Hazelnuts, pine nuts, and/or walnuts
Add body and a toasty, rich flavour once browned.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savoury, salty depth and helps bind the sauce.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the oil.

The step that matters

Blanching the nettles. Nettle stings are neutralised by heat, so the leaves must be fully blanched for the full minute. Plunging them into ice water right after sets their bright green colour and stops further cooking, keeping the pesto fresh-tasting rather than dull and olive-drab.

Swap the hazelnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, clove, olive, parmesan cheese, lemon, pepper):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Beansfits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Hazelnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, clove, olive, parmesan cheese, lemon, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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