We were visited on wednesday by Edinburgh Community Food’s Talk of the Walk group. The healthy living group for women in North East Edinburgh trekked down to the Botanics on a chilly January morning. We had a whistle stop for a tour of our vegetable garden and despite the cold we managed to find plenty of leaves to harvest.

Taking our bounty into the warm the group got busy with a pestle and mortar to make some delicious fresh pesto. We didn’t follow a particular recipe but the recipe below is a rough guide. You can use all kinds of leafy greens for this dish depending on whatever is available in the garden.

Pesto

3 large handfuls of spinach, rocket, winter purslane and parsley (curly and flat leaf)
1 small handful of sorrel
3 tbsp olive oil
Generous handful pine nuts
Salt and pepper

Wash the leaves well. Mix all ingredients in a blender and season to taste. If using a pestle and mortar chop the leaves first and add oil at the end. Mix with fresh cooked pasta and serve.