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Ingredients

  • 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

Method

  • 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.

RECIPE TIPS
USE NETTLES

If you're making this pesto with nettles, bring a large pan of water to the boil, then drop in the nettles and cook for 2 mins. Drain and run under cold water, then squeeze out as much water as possible before roughly chopping them, and adding to the food processor as above. 

BARNEY’S FORAGING RULES

Take a pocket guidebook, and check it before picking anything. Make sure that it's legal to forage in a public area or that you have the landowner’s permission. Use all your senses to identify the plants you're looking for; it may look similar to wild garlic but if it doesn’t smell of garlic – don’t eat it! Never pick leaves next to busy roads or lanes, or low down, where dogs are regularly walked. If foraging for stinging nettles, wear gloves when picking and make sure to cook properly.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2015

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