Walnuts get our vote!
So here we are suggesting that we use walnuts instead of pine nuts. Last evening I added some, slightly crushed, to my pasta instead of pine nuts. Organic, and with equal if not better nutritional value per ounce, and a LOT cheaper, they totally fit the bill. Then there they were, on Countryfile, being made into pesto!
Why walnut not pine nut? Well, pine nuts are wild harvested or foraged. This is ‘a good thing’ but it’s a very short season in natural forests in Siberia, Afghanistan and China. Currently there’s only Chinese pine nuts available and the market price is incredibly high. Walnuts on the other hand can be UK grown, have a full chain of custody and sustainability and be a LOT cheaper. We are trying to find out more on whether pine nuts are causing natural forests to be preserved - obviously that would be excellent! But for now, we’re saying ‘have you tried walnuts instead?’ Because we are absolutely converted!