By André de Mendonça
With so much time in the garden I noticed a clump of wild garlic, so I thought it might be nice to make some wild garlic pesto. Given that normal pesto ingredients might be a little hard to come by in these troubled times (though if you are going out for rural walks you might find some garlic in the woods ) and pine nuts and parmigiano or pecorino are so expensive, this little recipe works fine. It makes more than you need (enough for five) but it keeps for a bit in the fridge.
Ingredients:
100g of wild garlic, (bulbs, stalks and flowers are all edible)
75g of any nuts (I used raw skinned peanuts which I dry fried for 5 mins) skinned hazelnuts are great too.
50g of cheddar (or gruyere or parmigiano or any hard cheeses you have in the fridge)
8 large fresh basil leaves (not essential but it makes the dish if you are having pasta). A teaspoon of the dried stuff might do.
Salt and pepper
1 lemon
Olive oil
If you are out foraging for garlic – and this time of year is perfect for wild garlic – 100g is about the amount you can get in the circle between your index finger and thumb.
Method:
Wash, trim and roughly chop the wild garlic and blitz it for 10 secs in a processor
Add the cheese and blitz for 10 secs
Add the nuts and basil blitz again this time for 30 secs drizzling in some olive oil. The amount you need is up to you but enough to make a thick wet mixture. Add the juice of the lemon, blitz, taste and adjust for seasoning. The amount of salt you use will vary owing to the type of cheese you use.
And it is ready! Less than 10 minutes. Stir through pasta and add some more cheese and freshly milled pepper for an nice supper or on toast.