Easy recipe for Wild Garlic Pesto
We like to make the most of our local and seasonal produce with this easy wild garlic pesto.
Every April, we pick and use as much wild garlic as we can, as it grows in abundance around the estate! When out on your own walks, it is easy to find, and you will probably smell its pungent garlic scent before you see it. It grows in woodlands in Spring and its leaves are long, pointed and smooth oval shaped. There will be buds about to burst into flower, or if in flower, a very pretty and delicate white flower with six petals on a thin stalk shoots up from the centre of the plant.
Here is a simple recipe for wild garlic pesto. Its great stirred into pasta and makes an awesome garlic bread!
Prep time: 15 minutes
You will need
Food processor or pestle and mortar
Fine cheese grater
Scales
Storage jar (sterilised)
Ingredients
Large double handful of Wild Garlic leaves
60g Nuts (any are fine, we often use almonds, walnuts or cashews)
60g Parmesan cheese, grated
150ml Olive or rape seed oil, not extra virgin
Salt
Method
Rinse your wild garlic leaves, and pat them dry. You can add the buds and flowers if you have collected any, or you could use these to decorate a salad.
Add the nuts to the food processor, and blitz them to a crumb-like texture.
Add the wild garlic and blitz again until the leaves are finely chopped.
Now add the Parmesan and blitz again until everything is combined.
If you have a pouring hole in your food processor, use this to add your olive oil slowly while the food processor is on until you get your desired consistency and then season to taste with salt .
Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze in ice cube trays or small containers
The trick is not to panic if you don’t have any of the right ingredients, just adapt and overcome… Wild garlic is strong so you don’t need to use pine nuts like with a normal basil pesto, as it can tolerate stronger nuts. Or, if you don’t have any nuts, you could use stale breadcrumbs. Equally the oil you use doesn’t matter too much for the same reason, so we suggest using what you have – even a simple vegetable oil will be ok!
