Springtime Recipe: Wild Garlic Pesto

With fine weather over Easter, it was time to set the vegetable patch up for spring. In the midst of weeding, I noticed that the wild garlic had escaped onto the gravel around the beds – only one thing to do! So here’s a rough guide to making a wild garlic pesto.

A good bunch – three or four handfuls, I didn’t weigh it. I stripped off most of the stalks and bulbs, leaving a few in the bunch for flavour and texture. Washed and roughly chopped, and set to one side.

Pine nuts are in short supply in my kitchen at the moment, but I cracked open a handful of walnuts (about a dozen) and toasted them gently in the pan. Once they’d cooled, I chopped them coarsely – they’ll get blitzed in the food processor, but I want to minimise the blending, so that the garlic leaves don’t break down into a flavourless mush of cellulose fibres.

Cheese – parmesan is good, this Grana Padano is fine too.

Add extra virgin olive oil while gently pulsing in the mixer. A little salt and pepper to taste, but something was still missing – a squeeze of lemon juice brought it all to life…

So – three and a half jars? The half-jar will be tossed through pasta later this week. The rest? Well it’s great with chicken (stuff a breast fillet with pesto and mushrooms, or Parma ham) or fish like trout or mackerel. And for a supper, just brush it on some good bread and pop under the grill.

Enjoy!