Fennel Top Pesto

We are in the fortunate position to get a weekly organic veggie delivery from a farm less than 5 kilometres from where we live, it is always mostly a surprise and always seasonal. They also are very good about not throwing stuff away that is perfectly edible, but often is cut off and discarded when sold in super markets or on market stands, in this case the very flavourful feathery leaves on the top of fennel. I tried this out and even though my co-habitants both profess not to like aniseedy tasting things, this went down a treat, as a sandwich topping, in a vegetable risotto or as a straight-forward pesto. And it is vegan, if anybody is bothered.

What you need:

• 70 to 80 g feathery leaves of fennel tops (the stalks work very well in a creamy soup, by the way)
• 3+ cloves of garlic, chopped
• 90 g ground almonds
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Cajun Spice mix or (less!) cayenne pepper
• 1 – 2 tblsp (white) Balsamico
• about 5-5 tblsp olive oil

What you do:

1. Chop the fennel topping quite finely (it speeds up the liquidising afterwards)
2. Roughly chop the garlic.
3. Mix the ground almonds with the salt and the Cajun Spice and roast it without fat in a large frying pan until fragrant.
4. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and then liquidise in whichever portions your machine can handle. You may need to add more olive oil or, if it is too oily, some more almonds.