WILD GARLIC AND SUNFLOWER SEED PESTO
Around this time every year, I get a parcel from my mother-in-law to-be, Ro. In her garden swathes of wild garlic grow rampant, it peeks out in March and keeps on coming roughly until June (though the leaves are better earlier in the season and the flowers later on), and I get sent armfuls of the stuff posted in a cardboard box complete with little snails which I have to pick off… it is organic, after all, as she likes to remind me! For a little context, wild garlic is native to Britain, and is most commonly found on woodland floors, as it thrives in damp environments.
Last week, Ro visited (just in time, since the lockdown was imminent) with half a suitcase full of the potent greens. She arrived on the Friday and on the Saturday we went to the Crystal Palace farmer’s markets to pick up some more veg and spotted some for sale from one of the biodynamic Sussex farms. She was amazed and titillated by the fact that it was three small bunches for £10. Later that evening we made a wild garlic pesto to complement our dinner and we reckoned we used about £40 worth! OK, we made a lot and it enhanced many a meal… but we’re still nowhere near using it all up. That’s okay though — I have plans for this batch and the next. I’ll be using this recipe to top my kitchari for my spring Cleanse + Reset starting tomorrow!!!
I realise that this recipe is only really useful for those who can get their hands on wild garlic (check out the tips below for alternatives), but it’s definitely worth knowing about or even considering for your own garden since it just gets on with stuff itself. After all It’s a considered a weed, but it is one tasty weed. The leaves are soft and sweet and garlicky — all that garlic flavour with none of the pungent chopping smell on your fingers. Just wash and go!
INGREDIENTS
100g/2 large handfuls wild garlic, washed
25g sunflowers seeds
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil, as needed
½ lemon (for the juice)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
METHOD
In a dry pan, toast the sunflower seeds until browned on the edges and set aside to cool while you prep the other ingredients.
Wash and rough chop the wild garlic.
In a pestle and mortar (or a food processor if you’d prefer), start to grind the garlic leaves with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Add in the sunflower seeds, the nutritional yeast if using, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and grind again.
Add salt, pepper and any extra lemon to taste and serve.
It’s best to eat straight away — otherwise level off the pesto in its storage container, cover in extra virgin olive oil, and refrigerate for a day or two. You can also freeze in ice cube moulds for up to one month.
East by West tips:
Check out this Spring Green Quinoa Kitchari which also uses wild garlic.
If you don't have wild garlic, sub raw garlic cloves and a mix of parsley and spinach for the greens.
If topping your kitchari with the pesto, try leaving out the sunflower seeds to make it less heavy and Kapha-aggravating at this time of year, and try with a dash of apple cider vinegar to make it more chimichurri style.
