Well, spring is officially here! You may be reading this on every blog post for the next month, but bare with me, I absolutely love spring. How do we know that spring is here? Well, more flowers, much more light, warmer weather and…wild garlic!
I first encountered these fascinating leaves here in London. They have a bright green colour and an intense garlic flavour. Since I discovered them at Borough Market, they mark the beginning of spring for me. And what’s more interesting is that you can find them only for a few weeks in spring. All of us at Oliveology love it when some foods appear for a very short time at the market. We always try to eat seasonally, and anticipating unique vegetables, fruit or leaves like wild garlic is quite exciting. So when Marianna brought me a bunch of these last Saturday, I knew the time for one of my favourite things (and seasons) was here.
What does one do with these aromatic leaves? Well, garlicky pesto of course! You may remember our pistachio pesto from last year, or the sun dried tomato pesto from last fall. This spring we are making wild garlic pesto!
For this recipe we used walnuts and kefalotyri cheese. As for herbs, well, even though basil is traditionally used for pesto, we went for parsley. Its hebry notes blend perfectly with the wild garlic. But also a large bunch of parsley is much more affordable than these small bunches of basil you find at London markets. Now, if you are those lucky people who have pots with herbs then feel free to use whichever combination you prefer!
For a large jar of very garlicky pesto you will need:
½ cup wild garlic leaves
2 cups parsley leaves (save the stalks for stock)
1 cup walnuts or other raw nuts of your choosing
1 cup olive oil
kefalotyri cheese (optional)
Here is what you need for the recipe
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Organic Greek Walnuts
From: £7.50 -
Out Of Stock22°C Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
£32.50
If you prefer a subtle garlic flavour, then I suggest you halve the quantity of wild garlic leaves. But you know, a very garlicky pesto is better. So, in a blender or with a pestle and mortar place the herbs and walnuts. Sure, you could toast the walnuts first. But don’t. Trust me, these walnuts can proudly stand on their own. Raw. Blend, adding slowly the extra virgin olive oil until your walnuts are crushed and combined with the herbs. Season with salt and pepper and add as much cheese as you like.
