It’s getting around to my favourite time of the year when there is so much free food to forage for. I love making recipes with wild garlic and walking in woods where there is a huge abundance of it at this time of year. The heady smell in the early morning is intoxicating. I took this shot on a walk through a wood near Butler Hill in Hampshire in the heart of the Southdowns National Park not long after dawn. I have yet to come across anywhere else where the wild garlic is so proliferous. I always like to leave plenty behind for others to forage and to not destroy the crop and so damage it for next years growth but there is absolutely no problem with that here as you can see by the image. It’s absolutely everywhere. What a find!
Wild garlic boasts a nutritional value rich in vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and copper. It also contains organosulphur compounds, phenolic compounds, steroidal glycosides, lectins, and a variety of essential amino acids, contributing to its garlic nutritional value.
- 150g wild garlic leaves or young nettles, or a mixture (foraged – see tip)
- 50g parmesan or vegetarian alternative, finely grated
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- ½ lemon, zested and a few squeezes of juice
- 50g pine nuts, toasted
- 150ml rapeseed oil
- STEP 1
- Rinse and roughly chop the wild garlic leaves.
- STEP 2
- Blitz the wild garlic leaves, parmesan, garlic, lemon zest and pine nuts to a rough paste in a food processor. Season, and with the motor running slowly, add almost all the oil. Taste, season and add a few squeezes of lemon juice.
- STEP 3
- Transfer the pesto to a clean jar and top with the remaining oil. Will keep in the fridge for two weeks.