Paulin's Lockdown Recipes: Foraging for Pesto

Spring has well and truly sprung across central Scotland. Our watch designer Euan has been taking advantage of this and has been foraging in the woods near his home.

One plant in full bloom at the moment is known as Ransom or Wild Garlic. Euan found a large patch of it while out on an his evening walk and has thought of a great use for it!

 

Pesto can be made from many different things (most commonly basil), but here is an alternative method Euan used featuring some foraged wild garlic. For this recipe you will need a blender. 

 
PREP

– Pick wild Ransoms (it’ll be difficult to pick only the leaves so grab the flowers too)
– Separate leaves from flowers
– Trim the stems of the flowers and place them in a cup or vase
– Wash the leaves, and pat dry with a dish towel

      

    MAKE

    3 generous tablespoons of olive oil 
    60g of nuts (cashew nuts were used for this, but you can use pine nuts or hazelnuts too)
    A few pinches of salt
    A good handful of grated parmesan
    Juice from half a lemon


    – Blitz this together for a minute or so to make the paste
    – Add in the washed Ransom leaves (80g/ 80 leaves)
    – Add lemon juice
    – Blitz for a further 30 seconds making sure that the leaves are fully blended
    – You should now be left with a mixture similar to this:

    EAT

    It has a sweet yet almost spicy undertone from the garlic, works great as a dip on it’s own but also great in a mixed salad. We made a veggie and cheese tart! Yum! :)