I love jumping in and trying something new and then doing my research in the resulting fit of excitement. It all started when Van Cheeseman set aside some purslane for us last week. Purslane's thick leaves taste pleasantly grassy and lightly bitter; it looks a lot like a succulent houseplant but generally is classified as a weed. We thought it would be perfect in a pesto with walnuts.
When I looked up the details on purslane, it got even more interesting. With plenty of omega-3s and beta carotene plus vitamin C in its stems, this may just be the perfect green.
Purslane Pesto
one bunch of purslane, stems removed
2/3 cup walnuts
1/4 cup olive oil
juice from half a lemon
2 tsp. honey
sea salt and pepper
Place all ingredients in a mini-prep food processor and pulse until you can't see any whole leaves. Use it on toasted bread, pizza, or with pasta.
2 comments:
Thank you!!! I have had this growing RAMPANT all summer long in my deck planters, and I've been dying to know what it is. Mystery solved.
I let it grow because the succulent leaves and red stem were so unusual and different from my normal unwanted greenery, almost pretty. So glad I did because now I'm gonna harvest it and use it in my dinner tonight!
I'm not a huge purslane fan so I wasn't sure I'd like this, but I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. The only thing I changed was that I added a small clove of garlic (and garlic salt), and I used 1/2 walnuts and 1/2 toasted pumpkin seeds. Thanks, I'll be saving this!
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