Wild Garlic, Spring Onion and Parsley Pesto
This pesto makes for a lovely salad dressing. It is also fantastic with pasta or risotto or drizzled over homemade pizza. It’s great mixed into butter or served with grilled halloumi, steak, fish, roasted vegetables, or chicken either as a marinade or sauce. It can also be mixed through mashed potatoes, or used as a dip. It elevates the likes of omelettes, frittatas, soups, stews, casseroles or alternatively mix into a homemade bread recipe. It uses are endless which makes for a good fridge staple on nights you don’t feel like cooking to much
Course Baking, Bread, Brunch, Canape, Dip, Main Course, Salads, Side Dish
Cuisine International, Italian, Mediterranean
Servings 1 Small Kilner Jar
Equipment
- 1 blender tor mortar and pestle
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 tbsp roasted hazelnuts or roasted cashew nuts or toasted pinenuts
- 80 g wild garlic young tender leaves
- 60 g spring onion finely chopped (4)
- 20 g flat parsley leaves only
- Seasoning
- 250 ml good quality extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients into a food processor apart from the olive oil and blitz for a few seconds and then continue to whiz whilst slowly adding the olive oil until blended.
- Pour into a sterilized Kilner jar and cover with a layer of olive oil. Close lid and store in the fridge for 2 weeks.
Maggie's Tips
A note on wild garlic.
A member of the onion/garlic family also known as ‘ramsons’, wild garlic grows abundantly in our hedgerows and woodlands, filling the Spring air with its pungent scent. The bright green shoots with pretty white flowers bopping in the breeze are free to forage and make a lovely addition to many dishes. The entire plant is edible, the bulbs can be used like normal garlic.
Foraging tips:
- Choose the small, tender leaves of wild garlic – they have a milder flavour.
- Don’t pick from busy areas where dogs tend to roam, and always rinse well before use. This applies to all foraged foods.
- Wild garlic leaves keep well in the fridge for up to a week if stored in a paper bag or glass container with a lid.
- Wild garlic has anti-bacterial, antibiotic, antiseptic and anti-fungal properties. It is also rich in folic acid
- Wild garlic oil can react with metal lids…hence the Kilner jar.
- Nut free option: Just omit, no need to replace with anything.
- Vegan/Dairy free option: Omit Parmesan. You can replace with 1 small ripe avocado or just omit completely.
- Most herbs work once the wild garlic is out of season: Basil, parsley, coriander, chervil, dill, mint or use a combination of 2-3 of them. Also try: Watercress, baby spinach, rocket, land cress, sorrel and dandelion leaves. These leaves are slightly stronger and sometimes bitter in taste - so ½ the quantity of leaves. Other additions are: Semi or sun-dried tomatoes, olives, roasted red peppers, roasted pumpkin, harissa or spicy chilli. To gain more insight into the funky world of pesto power, check out the various pesto ranges on your supermarket shelf - then recreate your own version at home.