serves 6
Watercress is fantastic and peppery and makes a wonderful pesto. Include the stalks! I’ve used cashews but you can use almond, pistachios, walnuts – almost any nut you have to hand. Watercress doesn’t oxidise like basil so it is not so imperative to cover with a layer of oil.
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Ingredients
500g baby potatoes
30g pecorino cheese or 1.5 tsp nooch or nutritional yeast
30g cashews
1 glove of garlic
80-100g watercress including the stalks
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp sea salt flakes
4-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Wash and brush the potatoes.
- It might be necessary to cut some so they are all a similar size.
- Put the potatoes into a saucepan.
- Cover with boiling water and add a couple of pinches of sea salt flakes.
- Cook for 10-15 minutes or until cooked through.
- Drain into a colander and allow to cool.
- When cool put into a mixing bowl.
- Now make the “pesto”:
- First put the pecorino cheese into a magimix and pulse until it looks like bread crumbs.
- Add the cashew nuts.
- Peel and crush the garlic and add this too.
- Blitz until fine but not sticking together.
- Add the watercress and 2 tbsp water and blitz.
- Add a pinch or two of sea salt flakes and 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Blitz and taste!
- Put 4 tbsp onto the cool potatoes and mix together. You might want to add 1 tbsp of cold water and 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil to help it mix with the potatoes.
- Sprinkle with sea salt flakes, a few extra watercress leaves if you have them and a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
- Put the remaining pesto into a sterilised jar and top with a little oil and keep in the fridge. It lasts about 3 days.
