Around Vienna where I live there’s a quite large forest and if you wander those in April/May you smell garlic everywhere. I like to collect the wild garlic or bear leek – to make pesto. However you have to be very careful not to select lillies of the valley instead.
The taste of the wild garlic pesto always remembers me of Spring. When I eat it just with bread, I know Summer is close.
For wild garlic pesto you need:
– 120 g wild garlic
– 60 g parmesan cheese (grated
– 40 g pine nuts
– 5 Tbsp olive oil
– salt, pepper
A few years back I made quite a lot of wild garlic pesto (It lasts very long if you top it with olive oil). However after a week it started to become bitter. I did some research online and found out that you have to blanch the leaves in order to get rid of the bitterness. So this time I tried that and it worked perfectly. However it doesn’t taste so garlicy anymore as well – what’s a good thing if you think about leaving the house after you ate this.
I poured cooking hot water of the wild garlic and sieved it 10 seconds later. Put the leaves in a food processor, add the pine nuts and parmesan cheese until it becomes a thick paste. Season with salt and pepper and combine with the olive oil. That’s all there is. Now enjoy!
I like to eat it with just some bread or you can add it to salads, pasta or soups.
Now. Carry on!
thanks for the recipe. I went to my farmers market on saturday in search of ramps but could only find wild garlic. I had no idea what to do with wild garlic but now I do!
Thanks for the tip on blanching!
[…] The flower in the background is actually wild garlic (or bear leek). A pretty decoration that you can use them for after they start to bloom and loose their fantastic flavour. […]
[…] recipe for wild garlic pesto is as easy and fast made as cheap. You can even collect your own wild garlic (which makes it a tiny […]
[…] The flower in the background is actually wild garlic (or bear leek). A pretty decoration that you can use them for after they start to bloom and loose their fantastic flavour. […]
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