In the Kitchen with Dave!

Wild Garlic Pesto

If you go down to the woods today, be sure to open your eyes…
With a scent that’s strong, you really can’t go wrong,
Wild garlic, nature’s surprise.

Hello, Dave here.

From say, late March until the end of June wild garlic abounds in the woodlands around our home in East Sussex. These little beauties, also known as ‘ramsons’, generally are to be found in ancient (or at least old) woodlands.

So this week I decided to make some wild garlic pesto. It’s really simple, and more importantly (for me at least) it’s quick!

Firstly we need to forage for some fresh wild garlic.
Remember to harvest responsibly – The general consensus seems to be… Take one third and leave two thirds.

Pick the leaves fairly close to the ground, but don’t pull them. We want to leave the bulbs below intact for next year.

We are going to need about this much…

  • 100g (a big handful) of garlic leaves, washed thoroughly.
  • 50g Parmesan type cheese (freshly grated is best).
  • 50g Pine nuts (toasted) Simply dry-fry them for a couple of minutes.
  • 1-2 Tablespoons of good quality olive oil.
  • Fresh lemon juice.
  • Salt & pepper to taste.

Simply place all of the ingredients into a blender and whizz it up!
You can do this the old school method with a mortar and pestle, if you want a coarser or more rustic type of pesto.

Add a little more olive oil, if required.
Store it in a sealed jar in the fridge, and it will keep for a week or more.

Now for the best bit…

Cook your favourite pasta, ‘al dente’. It’s linguini for me!
Toss with a little butter and a big spoonful of your beautiful wild garlic pesto.
Delicious!
And repeat…

Try these versatile leaves to make a soup with vegetable stock and onions.
Or perhaps make some garlic butter. Serve with new potatoes…

I find that wild garlic has a slightly milder taste, so you can use the shredded leaves in an omelette or whatever you fancy.

It’s interesting that many of us have become more resourceful during this coronavirus lockdown. Some through need, but equally some through a desire to change things up a bit. Experiment. After all, there is only so much TV to be watched.

I have stopped watching and listening to the news for now. I only want the facts. Not interested in journalists spinning negativity and building their own profiles!

We will get through this, together… and nothing, but nothing, will ever be quite the same again. Change is a coming, so let’s make it positive.

As Jimi Hendrix said…
‘When the power of love overcomes the love of power,
the world will know peace’.

Stay safe,

Dave x

31 thoughts on “In the Kitchen with Dave!

  • 20th May 2020 at 8:37 am
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    Thanks for sharing the recipe , can’t say I’ve seen any growing in these parts.
    I’m with on the news. Too much negativity.

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    • 20th May 2020 at 4:23 pm
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      Brilliant post thank you Dave x x x

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    • 23rd May 2020 at 6:39 am
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      That was great Dave will share this with my girls who love pesto. Keep are eye out for the wild garlic when out for walks Joy x

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  • 20th May 2020 at 8:39 am
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    Thanks for sharing the recipe , can’t say I’ve seen any growing in these parts.
    I’m with you on the news. Too much negativity.

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    • 20th May 2020 at 3:50 pm
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      Thanks for this Dave, just exactly the kind of thing that I have been looking for.
      Guess what will be coming back with me from today’s walk – yum!

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  • 20th May 2020 at 8:54 am
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    Hello Dave, what a wonderful surprise; I obviously guessed someone else (PChurch) but your input with this recipe is most refreshing. It’s a shame that we won’t be able to try this recipe (at least this year) as our nearest woodlands are quite a distance and I cannot justify in the current climate travelling but I have noted the details and added it on my ‘to do’ list. Thank you.

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    • 20th May 2020 at 1:46 pm
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      Thanks for that Dave, when we manage to find some wild garlic I shall definitely have a go at making garlic pesto. I guessed wrong thought it may be Steve having a go at the blog. We like you are giving up with listening to the news and all the negativity of the reporters. A couple of times a week is too much these days. Take care and stay safe xx

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  • 20th May 2020 at 10:11 am
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    I actually have wild garlic, deliberately planted with other wild flowers, in one of my raised beds, so I will definitely have a go at this recipe. Must plant more, I think. We used to go Land Rover trialling in the “garlic woods” at Eastnor Deer Park in Herefordshire, and the aroma from the wild garlic was a real knock out. Pity we did not think of harvesting a few while we were there. Enjoy your pasta. xxx Maggie (Silvercrafter)

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    • 20th May 2020 at 11:56 pm
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      I have plenty in the garden so thanks for a lovely recipe! X6

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  • 20th May 2020 at 11:12 am
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    Lovely to see you on here & thanks for the recipe. Not sure that we have any near here but will bear it in mind. Where we used to live in a small village it grew on the river bank & the first year we were there we couldn’t understand what the smell that was wafting through the village was. It wasn’t until we asked the locals that it all became clear as to what the smell was. A lovely display of white flowers. Brings back memories of walking down the lanes as well.

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  • 20th May 2020 at 11:27 am
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    Great to hear from you. No wild garlic here but the recipe made my mouth water. More recipes please as us cooks always like to try something different.

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  • 20th May 2020 at 11:38 am
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    I made the mistake of planting this on my allotment with my asparagus. It spreads like mad. Now thanks to you I have a recipe. Loved your blog dear Dave. Love to you and the young lady

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  • 20th May 2020 at 11:58 am
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    Well done Dave, an easy recipe if the wild garlic is available. A good excuse to go for a walk and see if any is still growing at the bottom of Box Hill near the stepping stones. Have a good day.

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  • 20th May 2020 at 12:22 pm
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    Welcome Dave! So excited that I guessed correctly, though I never expected a cooking lesson. That looks delicious. The flowers are really pretty too. I live in the states, so I’m not likely to find it unfortunately. I make basil pesto every year and have found that it freezes well. I put it in a plastic freezer bag and flatten it out so that it’s about 1cm thick. That way I can just break off chunks as needed throughout the year.
    Looking forward to what you share with us next.

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  • 20th May 2020 at 12:44 pm
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    Hi Dave, Love this recipe, keep them coming. Every day I used to drive from Oxford to Gloucester for work. As you come into Gloucester, you drop down the Cotswold escarpment, past the local landmark pub called Air Balloon. As you approach this hill you pass through woodlands which at this time of year were just full of wild garlic, each day you pass through this delicious perfume of wild garlic, your recipe reminds me just how much I used to love that smell each year. Firstly you have bluebells and then the wild garlic, the promise of summer on the way. I have been lucky enough to go to Raymond Blanc’s place in Oxfordshire, Le Manoir Quatre Saison, there at this time of year they used to go the most delicious wild garlic and potato amuse bouche, a delicate little soup that was just divine, my mouth is watering at the thought. Since moving to Shropshire, under a year ago, not yet found a new source of wild garlic, so think we might have to do that at the weekend or at least find a supplier locally as you have reminded me of just how lovely it is. Thanks, delicious memories and a lovely recipe to try. Karen

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  • 20th May 2020 at 4:04 pm
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    Really enjoyed reading your Blog Bruv 😊. This brought back memories of the woods at the farm, full of Wild Garlic. Last time I went for a walk past the woods the smell of the Garlic was very powerful. Mum loved cooking and it’s certainly passed on to you …. probably more than me! Sis x

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    • 20th May 2020 at 5:09 pm
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      I have some wild garlic in my garden so make this when it’s out. As you sa8y it’s great with pasta.

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      • 21st May 2020 at 12:47 pm
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        My late husband, who was a farmer, used to adore garlic. It brings back memories of times with him in North Devon. I must look for some here in Herefordshire. Thank you for the recipe.

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      • 23rd May 2020 at 10:26 am
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        Thanks Dave for the recipe.
        Found a couple of bits of wild garlic growing in the garden so have dug them up and put them in a pot (garden’s too small to let it run wild) rather than treating them as weeds and putting them in the garden waste bin. Hopefully there will be enough next year to try your pesto.
        Lynn

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  • 20th May 2020 at 4:18 pm
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    Thanks for the recipe Dave, I can remember as a kid going to the woods just up from our house to make a”den” and play there for hours (wouldn’t be allowed to now) and used to pick wild garlic flowers for my mum and take them home to her because I thought they were really pretty, little did I know she hated them because of the smell of garlic 😂. Still it was the thought that counts. Will have to see if I can forage for some near me but alas no woods left here.
    Great to hear you on the blog though.
    Have fun and take care x

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  • 20th May 2020 at 4:39 pm
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    Thank you for the recipe. I am not a lover of garlic in cooking normally, albeit I like garlic bread – that’s me contrary! However, I do have wild garlic growing at the bottom of the garden in the “wild” bit under the oak trees behind my craft den. As it is milder than ordinary garlic – I can see I will have to experiment.

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  • 20th May 2020 at 4:49 pm
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    Thanks, Dave. What an interesting recipe. I know a nursery that sells a Forager’s Collection of shrubs and trees so you only need to go in your garden – but I don’t think they have added wild garlic – yet! My former neighbour planted wild garlic as the flowers are beautiful but it does go everywhere. Like Kathleen, I freeze pesto made from the basil I grow – but would like to thank her for the idea of flattening it. I have a reserved ice cube tray, as even Milton doesn’t totally shift the smell, and then bag the cubes but a slab that snaps may well be easier.

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  • 20th May 2020 at 5:22 pm
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    Thank you Dave, What a beautiful flower. Unfortunately garlic doesn’t agree with me but I might get some just for the flower.

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  • 20th May 2020 at 7:23 pm
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    Lovely to have you posting here Dave. Barbara talks very highly of you when we doodle!!!! I love to hear her stories of you going shopping . You’ll have to join us in the Shac Shack one morning. Jimi Hendrix spoke a lot of wise words. Thank you for that. Hope to see you soon

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  • 20th May 2020 at 8:23 pm
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    How good to see you posting here. And with interesting recipes too!! We have lots of wild garlic in our local woodland (my back gate leads to woody wonderland!) and the dogs reek of it after walking through it! Now the bluebells have all gone the other flowers are showing. Should be a good blackberry year by the number of flowers on the brambles. I think Barbara said you will be saying something about hands soon -I look forward to that as mine are so painful I’ll try anything (but no dotty pictures sadly).

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  • 21st May 2020 at 6:49 am
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    Thanks Dave for the recipe. My son Justyn was out for a walk with his family in Dorset where they live and smelled the garlic in a wood. He rang me and asked what wild garlic looked like and I told him so will pass your recipe onto him as he loves cooking so thank you. We all hope that this old world will get the respect it desperately needs and we embrace the changes with a positive and grateful way of the new “norm”. We needed to stand back and take stock this certainly has been a very big wake up call. X

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  • 21st May 2020 at 8:51 am
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    Thanks Dave, we have loads growing round us (up in Yorkshire) can’t wait to give it a try. Totally agree about the news, we don’t even watch the tv just have music on – stay safe xx

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  • 21st May 2020 at 2:22 pm
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    Thanks Dave for the recipe. Used to have some in the garden but disappeared, so will have to sneak out for a walk to the woods at Berkswell and find some. Thank you to you, Barbara and team for all you do xxx

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  • 22nd May 2020 at 9:07 am
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    What a great idea. I make the spinach pesto and freeze half for a later date. There is a bakery in Ellesmere that makes a lovely bread with nettles in it.

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  • 22nd May 2020 at 4:13 pm
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    I did this few weeks ago and didn’t have pine nuts but did have walnuts, tasted lovely

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  • 22nd May 2020 at 11:17 pm
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    Thanks for the recipe Dave. Delicious! Wild garlic grows in abundance in the areas where I take my daily walks; it’s best found in shady wooded areas especially on the banks of streams. It’s been absolutely beautiful this year and the flowers are really pretty. I’ve been picking it just for the flowers and using it in cooking – including making pesto – too for several weeks now though where I live (not far from Bath) I think the plants are past their best. This lockdown has really given me the opportunity to appreciate the natural world more and I’m grateful for that.

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