April is the start of the food season for me, and when I start filling my pantry and freezer again from things grown or foraged. I am lucky as wild garlic grows in abundance near where I live and so we make enough wild garlic pesto to freeze and last us for the year. I use it to make garlic bread, to flavour meals, to make a pasta dish, on toast with cheese and we eat some most weeks.
Ingredients
150g of wild garlic leaves, well washed
45g parmesan cheese or vegetarian alternative.
One clove of garlic
Zest and juice from half a lemon(optional)
50g of toasted pine nuts toasted (we often just use cheap salted peanuts rinsed or any other nuts we have around)
150 ml of rapeseed oil (we use less as don’t like pesto really oily.) I have also used vegetable oil when we
had no alternative.
grind of pepper
Method
- Roughly chop the wild garlic leaves and put in a food processor.
- Add the finely grated cheese, lemon rind and juice, nuts and finely grated garlic. Add grind of pepper.
- Whiz for a few minutes and then slowly add the oil until it is the consistency that you want.
- Place in a jar in the fridge (it will keep at least a week) or freeze to use later.
I tend to freeze it in small containers so that we do not waste any but we have enough for a meal. I also make up some ice cubes of it and pack into a bag as these are great for dropping into a meal to flavour it if I am short of onions. If you can not make the pesto on the day that you pick the wild garlic you can put the leaves in a jug of water like flowers and they will keep for up to 4 days.
Brilliant we are on a spring foraging course on Sat I’m looking forward to learning where to find stuff locally . I think I have some wild garlic in the garden big sis will check it out when she comes up . Another brill post Toni . Thank you xx
How wonderful. Enjoy. There are a few things that look like wild garlic in my garden and so great idea to check it out, though you should be able to smell it if you crush a leaf. x