Pesto Recipe - wild garlic & walnut

I picked some more wild garlic yesterday and I’m going to get some more on Wednesday, I love the stuff so much I’d probably even pay for it if I had to!  With this bunch I made some pesto.

Wild Garlic Pesto

20g wild garlic leaves (well washed – you know what doggies are like in the woods!)

30g grated Parmesan

20g walnuts (hadn’t got any pinenuts but these worked really well)

75ml olive oil plus a bit more

~   Bung everything except the olive oil in the food processor and run on slow whilst gradually adding the 75ml of olive oil.

~   When finely chopped and mixed together up the speed a little and process to a coarse purée.

~   Taste and season.

~   Spoon into a clean jam jar, run a little extra olive oil on the surface to seal and put the lid on.  Keep in the fridge.

Pin for easy reference when wild garlic is in season!

This quantity makes Not Much!  Double up if you can.  Of course you could make normal pesto with basil and pinenuts using similar quantities.

Lots of ideas for Wild Garlic Pesto here.

After decanting it into a jar I scraped out the processor and spread the result on toast which I ate with fried tomatoes and cream cheese for lunch.

Today, as often happens, I had a modicum of leftover mashed potato in the fridge, the reason being that one large potato is not quite enough for my real man's dinner and two are too much.   I decided to make a more-complicated-than-the-last-time wild garlic potato cake.  

I mixed two teaspoons of Wild Garlic Pesto into the mash, formed a little cake with a hollow in the middle into which I inserted a nugget of Boursin.  I shallow fried the potato cake in olive oil and, at the last moment, frazzled a little Prosciutto di Parma alongside it.  The cake had a creamy melting heart, the potato was savoury and delicious (umami-ish) and the ham was crisp and salty.  Ooooooh yum. 

I had a glass of red wine with lunch and have a confession to make in this regard.  I often mention red wine and nearly always drink the same one at home.  Sadly I’m not going to tell you what it is as it’s cheap and delicious and often sold out and I’m keeping it a secret – sorry.