I love the peppery taste of rocket leaves and, as you mentioned, it is great in salads; with pasta, pizza or in sandwiches. However, left with a bumper crop I highly recommend making pesto. Though classic pesto is made with basil, I always seem to have access to large quantities of rocket more often that the very large quantities of basil.
Rocket pesto will keep in a sealed jar for up to six months in the fridge, giving you a little taste of summer right through the winter months.
Feel free to multiple this recipe accordingly.
300g of fresh rocket leaves
4 cloves of garlic
150g of walnuts
The juice of 2 lemons
700ml of extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt (Maldon is good)
150g of Parmesan or pecorino cheese
Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Place the walnuts on a baking tray and cook for 5 minutes or until toasted. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for a few minutes. Place the walnuts, and garlic in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add the lemon juice, rocket, and half the olive oil and process until the required texture is achieved, gradually add the remaining oil. Stir in the parmasean and season with salt and pepper. Adjust the olive oil content to reach the desired consistency, it should be quite thick. Cover and chill. If you do plan to make and store this pesto long term, it is better to leave out the cheese until using the pesto and simply stir in the finely grated parmesan before use.
This pesto is perfect with pasta, gnocchi or spread on ciabatta.
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