TITLE: Foraging and making wild garlic pesto DATE: 2018-05-05 AUTHOR: John L. Godlee ==================================================================== It was the Dirty Weekenders' annual charity ceilidh last Thursday, and there was a raffle to raise money for the Scottish Wildlife Trust, so I decided to make some pesto as a raffle prize. I got all the leafy ingredients from Roslin Glen, which is a Dirty Weekenders project location, and one of my favourite places in the world. I collected Allium ursinum (Ramsons), Allium paradoxum (Few-flowered Leek), and Allaria petiolata (Garlic Mustard), all of which are really easy to identify and in full growth at the moment (late April). I used the following recipe: # Ingredients * 100 g garlicky leaves * 50g Parmesan grated * 50g pine nuts, toasted * Olive oil * Lemon juice, to taste * Salt & pepper # Method 1. Blitz all of the leaves in a food processor until homogenized, but not pasty 2. Add the parmesan, olive oil, lemon juice, blitz again 3. Toast the pine nuts in a frying pan until fragrant, then add to mixture 4. Blitz again, but keep some chunky pine nuts 5. Season Few flowered leek: ![Few flowered-leek](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/pesto/leek_1.jpg) ![Few flowered-leek 2](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/pesto/leek_2.jpg) Garlic mustard: ![Garlic mustard](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/pesto/mustard_1.jpg) ![Garlic mustard growing tip](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/pesto/mustard_2.jpg) ![Garlic mustard plant](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/pesto/mustard_3.jpg) Ramsons: ![Ramsons leaves](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/pesto/ramsons_1.jpg) ![Ramsons plant](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/pesto/ramsons_2.jpg) The finished pesto: ![Pesto](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/pesto/pesto.jpg) Bonus flower, a Grape Hyacinth (Muscari sp.): ![Grape hyacinth flower](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/pesto/flower.jpg)